The B tch is Back
by myboygeorge
Summary: Eleven years ago, a vicious killer was imprisoned for a series of brutal and shocking murders. Now the b!tch is back and Beckett, Ryan, Esposito and the whole gang from the Twelfth are tasked with their highest high-stakes case yet - tracking down once more the most vicious psychopath in the history of their careers.
1. SNEAK PREVIEW

_Hello all! So in light of the new CASTLE promo debuting, I thought I'd give you guys a little taste of the next story coming up - it's a real humdinger of a case when a predator is out on bail and back to the old habits. This will be the first part of the first chapter in the new story and yes I will write a 'Baby Weaver's first year' too; this will be a parallel timeline. Enjoy the teaser!_

* * *

She was a perfect specimen.

Not too tall, not to short, even in the high-heels. Tight calves, jelly thighs. Walks heel-heavy, but also in good shape since the jelly parts under the cocktail waitress uniform didn't jiggle the way flab did.

Brown hair. Even better. The killer didn't want the added expense and hassle of a dye job. Fewer scraps to tidy up when the work was done. Although...was it really work when it was so much damn fun?

Scapel in hand. Quickly, quietly, The Silent Panther. That was such a better name than the one those idiots had made up in the press. The Great Pretender. Pfft, yeah right. Was it a pretend body that went to the morgue for autopsy? Or fake blood the police found, splattered hither and yon, pretend blood cleaned from the blade? No, no, and no.

It was very real.

The brunette walked passed the alley entrance, stopping to wait for a cab.

'Louise, you better not blow those tips in Vegas next week! Save some for Missy's bachelorette in two months!'

A taxi farted and belched to a stop at the curb. Thump. Flesh on glass - a hand beating on the window.

'Damn, there's not enough room for everyone!'

'It's okay Tahlia! I'll walk down to the subway!'

Stupid move, brownie.

'You sure?'

Yes, please be sure.

'Yeah, I need some fresh air anyways!'

Oh so delectably stupid!

Louise Kingman watched her friends zip away into the misty night as she shoulder her purse, hoping the rain didn't start up whiel she was waiting for another cab. Louise Kingman, age twenty-three, invincible because she was twenty-three, shifted her aching feet as she looked up and down East Eleventh Street. The skyscraper heels she wore working at Q3X made her feet hurt like a bitch but they were totes worth it when her ass and legs looked so hot; that made drunk yuppy chauvinists tip more and that meant bills paid, cat fed, travel funds secured.

Instead of the pains in her arches she focused on V-Day in two weeks. Her friends teased her about the Vegas blowout she'd finally saved up enough for, but she wasn't going just for the carnival-on-acid getaway feel, there was a rich cultural history there too. Perfect to research the travel books she wanted to write.

She heard a small noise behind her near the trash cans, sighed. Rats paid her no mind at all, it seemed, just out hnting for a midnight snack.

Then she felt it - the hand on her mouth with the sharp biting nails, the cold keen-edged steel against the pulse of her throat. Breath, warm and gentle on her skin, intimate as a lover. She tried to open her mouth to scream but the nails bit into her cheek.

'A little advice Louise, girl to girl,'

Louise's blood went ice cold as she heard the voice. Soft, alto.

Female.

'Never walk alone at night. You might meet a bad guy.'


	2. TEASER 2

_Okay Crumbsians here we go! Another sneak peek for you! Consider this like one of those clips ABC releases to tease a new episode!_

* * *

'Hey, Will,' Beckett called across the bullpen, 'how mad is your wife gonna be if you get a call with just a few minutes to go in the night shift?'

'Daphne is a cop's wife through and through,' Will called back with a grin; he too had seen there was a measly seven minutes to go until seven in the morning, when the early day shift of uniforms would be in and they would be officially off the clock. 'If I get called, she gets it. She may not always like the way it fucks up our personal lives but she loves me so I must have done something right to keep her all these years.'

'How long has it been, eight years?'

'Seven married, almost nine together in total.' Newman rolled his chair back, propped his chin on his rolled fists to stare at the clock on his computer screen. 'I really wish I could stream _Chopped_ on this computer. Alex Guarnaschelli and Amanda Freitag are adorable.'

'You know they are actually old enough to be your mom.'

'Almost. Either way, they know their stuff and- oh come the fuck _on_!'

Beckett wondered if he knew how close he was to whining; she turned back to her own desktop to finish composing the draft of a letter to Karpowski to recommend Adam Brennan for the test to move up to the rank of detective second-grade. She snapped back at the sudden edge in Newman's voice.

'You wanna say that again? Oh, Jesus. Oh, goddamn it, Toh. No, you and LeBlanc stay there, I'm on my way with Beckett. Hold the fucking scene.'

Newman slammed down the phone with some force, enough to make Beckett jump a little as he grabbed his coat, blew past her desk with a terse, 'Beckett we have to go now.'

She grabbed her own jacket off the back of her chair and just barely made it into the elevator in time. The look on Newman's face was more than a little cause for concern - like Shane, he was well known for his easy going nature so to see him this twisted up had her brain going cool into full cop mode.

'What's the deal?'

'A woman was found in an alleyway off of East Eleventh. She had her throat and thighs slit open, and there was a fresh tattoo of a heart on the inside of her left wrist. And according to Officer LeBlanc, there is a letter in an envelope propped between her big and second toes of her right foot.'

Beckett felt her stomach churn acid, the weight of this knowledge on her shoulders. 'She's back.'


	3. TEASER 3

_Okay Crumbsians early Christmas present! A final sneak peek for you before we get into this story entirely!  
_

* * *

Tyson McKinley hated many things in the world, but he'd learned from his very Greek maternal grandmother to learn to find the good inside certain things. So he hated his job - he had a job to give him food and shelter, Yaya reminded him, and the hours of being a call-center worker meant he was home at the times when his wife and two year old daughter needed him to be. So he wished he could taken Ellie and Amy on a trip to Disney World soon - he would find a way to make his daughter's dreams come true and have a second honeymoon with his wife, it would work itself out with hard work and a little sweat, Yaya told him.

So his wife made him go to the twenty-four-seven mart for milk and fruit at the end of the block after work. Like a chump he'd walked right passed it when he'd left the subway station and had to walk all the way back to the end of the street to Eighth Avenue. But Tyson knew between disappointing Ellie and seeing Ellie wrinkle her nose when she gave him that little 'was that so hard' grin when she made pancakes the next morning. He loved the post-wakeup-sex pancakes she made. There was no difference in the recipe, but Tyson knew they tasted way better after the major release of all those endorphins and hormones in the bloodstream.

He patted his pockets, checked to see he had his wallet on him and grinned when he checked it for cash. His little Amy had put a note in with his twenties, a little scrap of paper that had a green number twenty on it. The kid was a freaking genius with crayons, she was going to be a painter or an animator, maybe she'd create her own graphic novel like Meredeth Esposito had with her childhood friend Kristof. He couldn't wait until Amy was old enough that he could read_ Guardians of Olympus_ with her. She would like the bright colours, the idea of secret superheroes. Amy was already calling him Supah-Daddy whenever he did something she thought was awesome. Of course, being that Amy was two years old that usually meant things like putting her Cheerios in front of her and making her stuffed monkey Banana talk to her at bedtime. Still, if those things made him a hero, he'd do them anytime anywhere for his little Amy.

The door to the mart opened and because he was lost in Daddy-land, he collided sharply with a woman of medium, unimpressive features whose arms were full of soft drinks. The woman bounced backwards, as did Tyson and they both stammered apologies.

'I'm so sorry, miss, let me help you with that.'

'Oh, thanks. That's what I get for forgetting stuff for a work party tomorrow, huh?'

'Do you have a basket or anything?'

'Yeah, you'd think I'd plan that far ahead.'

Tyson got to his feet, held out his hand to help her up; she kept her smile light and sweet as she took his hand in hers - the one where she'd palm a syringe of her favourite little cocktail. She watched the wince in his face, the knowledge and dilation in his eyes.

'Actually, I do plan that far ahead.'


	4. Return of the Monster

_Lower East Side - October 14 2:56am_

She was a perfect specimen.

Not too tall, not to short, even in the high-heels. Tight calves, jelly thighs. Walks heel-heavy, but also in good shape since the jelly parts under the cocktail waitress uniform didn't jiggle the way flab did.

Brown hair. Even better. The killer didn't want the added expense and hassle of a dye job. Fewer scraps to tidy up when the work was done. Although...was it really work when it was so much damn fun?

Scapel in hand. Quickly, quietly, The Silent Panther. That was such a better name than the one those idiots had made up in the press. The Great Pretender. Pfft, yeah right. Was it a pretend body that went to the morgue for autopsy? Or fake blood the police found, splattered hither and yon, pretend blood cleaned from the blade? No, no, and no.

It was very real.

The brunette walked passed the alley entrance, stopping to wait for a cab.

'Louise, you better not blow those tips in Vegas next week! Save some for Missy's bachelorette in two months!'

A taxi farted and belched to a stop at the curb. Thump. Flesh on glass - a hand beating on the window.

'Damn, there's not enough room for everyone!'

'It's okay Tahlia! I'll walk down to the subway!'

Stupid move, brownie.

'You sure?'

Yes, please be sure.

'Yeah, I need some fresh air anyways!'

Oh so delectably stupid!

Louise Kingman watched her friends zip away into the misty night as she shoulder her purse, hoping the rain didn't start up whiel she was waiting for another cab. Louise Kingman, age twenty-three, invincible because she was twenty-three, shifted her aching feet as she looked up and down East Eleventh Street. The skyscraper heels she wore working at Q3X made her feet hurt like a bitch but they were totes worth it when her ass and legs looked so hot; that made drunk yuppy chauvinists tip more and that meant bills paid, cat fed, travel funds secured.

Instead of the pains in her arches she focused on V-Day in two weeks. Her friends teased her about the Vegas blowout she'd finally saved up enough for, but she wasn't going just for the carnival-on-acid getaway feel, there was a rich cultural history there too. Perfect to research the travel books she wanted to write.

She heard a small noise behind her near the trash cans, sighed. Rats paid her no mind at all, it seemed, just out hnting for a midnight snack.

Then she felt it - the hand on her mouth with the sharp biting nails, the cold keen-edged steel against the pulse of her throat. Breath, warm and gentle on her skin, intimate as a lover. She tried to open her mouth to scream but the nails bit into her cheek.

'A little advice Louise, girl to girl,'

Louise's blood went ice cold as she heard the voice. Soft, alto.

Female.

'Never walk alone at night. You might meet a bad guy.'

* * *

Kate Beckett did not mind the occasional overnight shift in the bullpen - as it meant she'd be done at seven in the morning that meant she'd get to see RJ and Jojo off to school, catch a wake-up-bedtime booty call with her husband, have a rest and be awake in time for Chopped. Beckett missed Chopped, she'd loved it from being on maternity leave and though she'd never admit it out loud it had given her ideas for her own fridge when dinner time rolled around and she was faced with a quandry of what to make.

She looked around, saw it was virtually empty in the bullpen and wasn't surprised to see Adam's senior partner Detective Will Newman there. Like her, he liked to take the occasional night-shift in the bullpen to give the uniforms a break from the grunt work they faced to show them that the brass did not think themselves too high and might to pull a long one. He'd once been Karpowski's trainee, a young and eager uniform with a knack for getting the weasals to spill their guts as though they were pitchers of water accidentally tipped over.

Everyone had their talent, it seemed as Beckett thought of her people - Esposito was good with the tough guys, though that was hardly a surprise; he had a way of worming past their defences. Ryan was Ryan, the cuddly puppy everyone liked to chat to because of his big baby blues; Adam of course was the Interview virtuoso and Watkins, it turned out was amazing at crisis negotiation. Though she was technically Evan Geoffs trainee, given how often she worked with her boys, Beckett always tended to think of Watkins as one of hers.

They were all hers, really, owing to the fact that she was second-in-command of the Twelfth's Homicide Department and she knew them all. Some better than others, but she knew that Officer Toh preferred to go by Jason and not Ji-Su - only his very old-school North Korean mother called him that when she was very very pissed off with him - and that despite what they might claim, Third-Grade Detectives Wendela Avery and Masi Brooks had a little personal good-cop-bad-cop going between them. Though that was technically a violation of the fraternization rules, as long as it didn't interfere with their job performance Beckett was more than willing to turn a blind eye to it Knowing those details made the difference between a superior officer in charge and a leader.

'Hey, Will,' Beckett called across the bullpen, 'how mad is your wife gonna be if you get a call with just a few minutes to go in the night shift?'

'Daphne is a cop's wife through and through,' Will called back with a grin; he too had seen there was a measly seven minutes to go until seven in the morning, when the early day shift of uniforms would be in and they would be officially off the clock. 'If I get called, she gets it. She may not always like the way it fucks up our personal lives but she loves me so I must have done something right to keep her all these years.'

'How long has it been, eight years?'

'Seven married, almost nine together in total.' Newman rolled his chair back, propped his chin on his rolled fists to stare at the clock on his computer screen. 'I really wish I could stream _Chopped_ on this computer. Alex Guarnaschelli and Amanda Freitag are adorable.'

'You know they are actually old enough to be your mom.'

'Almost. Either way, they know their stuff and- oh come the fuck _on_!'

Beckett wondered if he knew how close he was to whining; she turned back to her own desktop to finish composing the draft of a letter to Karpowski to recommend Adam Brennan for the test to move up to the rank of detective second-grade. She snapped back at the sudden edge in Newman's voice.

'You wanna say that again? Oh, Jesus. Oh, goddamn it, Toh. No, you and LeBlanc stay there, I'm on my way with Beckett. Hold the fucking scene.'

Newman slammed down the phone with some force, enough to make Beckett jump a little as he grabbed his coat, blew past her desk with a terse, 'Beckett we have to go now.'

She grabbed her own jacket off the back of her chair and just barely made it into the elevator in time. The look on Newman's face was more than a little cause for concern - like Shane, he was well known for his easy going nature so to see him this twisted up had her brain going cool into full cop mode.

'What's the deal?'

'A woman was found in an alleyway off of East Eleventh. She had her throat and thighs slit open, and there was a fresh tattoo of a heart on the inside of her left wrist. And according to Officer LeBlanc, there is a letter in an envelope propped between her big and second toes of her right foot.'

Beckett felt her stomach churn acid, the weight of this knowledge on her shoulders. 'She's back.'


	5. First Play of Round Two

The chill in the air as Beckett left Newman's car was nothing compared to the blast freeze of Will Newman's temper. He was a good cop, steady and loyal but Beckett knew, perhaps better than anyone, there was always that one case that never fully went away.

Now it looked as though that wound was going to be ripped open and all that shit from eleven years ago was going to be spilling out once more.

'Newman, are you...can you handle this?' she asked him as they approached the tape, and Newman turned his eyes to her, dark and serious.

'Then I'm not fit for duty.'

'You tell me, or K-Pow, someone if you feel yourself starting to slide,' she told him. 'Direct order, no questions.'

'Yes sir Beckett.'

'Good. Toh!' Beckett called out to the Korean officer standing post at the entry to the alleyway. He was square faced, and reliable as gravity. She saw the people milling around on the sidewalk, snorted when she saw LeBlanc on his own. 'Go help LeBlanc control the animals, eh?'

'Right away, sir.'

Toh was off like a shot, and Beckett ducked beneath the tape after Newman; neither of them were surprised to see Lanie crouching by the body, a grim expression on her face. Beckett knew it wouldn't have been Shane, since he was still off on parental leave for another week. Hard to think he was a papa now, but he and Alexis were deliriously happy and equally exhausted from getting used to the routine of a newborn.

She took a little glance at the photo of the new family of three on her phone, kept the image of their smiling faces with her as she reached the body of what had once been a beautiful young woman. She'd had her throat and thighs slashed, ensure the femoral arteries were hit; without near-immediate attention, the wounds were fatal, as they'd proven to be for this poor unfortunate soul.

'Lanie, what do you have?'

'Louise Kingman, twenty-three according to her driver's license. Works for your friend Maddie, Beckett,' Lanie added, 'over at her spot on East Twelfth. The ID badge was in her purse.'

'Don't know if that will make things easier or worse.'

'There was this too.' Lanie picked up an evidence bag which contained an envelope with 'Detective William Rupert Newman' in laser-print script neatly centered. 'I sealed it up, don't know if you are going to be able to-'

'We're logging it in by remote and then out again,' Newman said crisply, taking out his tablet to hook into the evidence locker's system. 'That bitch wrote it for me, I need to see what's in there.'

'Detective, we talked about this,' Beckett reminded him.

'I know, and I'm fine.'

'You say that once too often around her, she'll pop you one,' Lanie warned him. 'Believe me, I've been there.'

'Did Toh mention anything about witnesses?'

'One of the uniforms has the two who found her in the squad car, they were chatting up a storm to her when I got here.'

'Great.'

Newman took off and Beckett looked around before her eyes settled on Lanie's face. 'Just like old times, huh friend?' she said on a sad little sigh.

'Let's hope it isn't.'

'Lanie, we need-'

'This one to be priority, I know, I know.' Lanie stood up, closed the cover on her medical clipboard. 'I'll put a rush on her, I'll give her to Pearlmutter if I have to. We won't let her get away with everything again.'

'Damn fucking right we won't.'

* * *

'All I'm saying is I'm very excited that Zane is big enough already that we get to dress him up for Hallowe'en.'

Esposito shook his head as he rode up in the elevator with Ryan and Adam, letting the new-daddy be a new-daddy; they'd both been there six times between the two of them. 'Who is he going as?'

'Well, I'm Batman, Lindsay is Catwoman, so Zane is little baby Robin.'

'Careful, I'm gonna get mush all over my new shoes,' Ryan teased him, and Adam rolled his eyes playfully.

'I've heard the stories about you being a cat on a hot tin roof when Jenny was pregnant.'

'Alright, pack it guys,' Esposito told him. 'We're at our floor and I'm not guessing Beckett called us in early with a nine-one-one to treat us to breakfast.'

As the elevator doors opened, Ryan and Adam saw Espo's prediction was way off - it wasn't just a nine-one-one, it was two steps up from chaos. Officers were moving through the space to get hot-line stations set up, all detectives talking to either civilians or each other with files. Esposito took one step forward and was nearly plowed over by Newman who was barking orders into his cellphone.

'That's right, Newman N-E-W-M-A-N, badge number four-two-two-six-three, on direct orders of Captain Karpowski. No, not in a few, no god-damn it.'

'Will!' Esposito tried to flag him down but the detective was gone already.

'The hell was that?' Adam wondered; as luck would have it Watkins was turning out of the ladies room and hot-stepping it back to her desk. 'Wat- Watki-Wa- Evelyn! Evelyn!'

She turned, saw it was three of the senior detectives and gave them a warm but rushed smile. 'Conference room. Karpowski and Beckett are calling us in for a briefing.'

'Officer, what's the big fucking mad scramble about?'

'Kali Wenthram is back.'

Adam saw both Ryan and Esposito blanch like almonds at the name Watkins dropped, the muscles in their jaws go tight. 'Who is Kali Wenthram?'

'She is the demon bitch from hell,' was all Esposito said. 'The briefing will get you up to speed. Jesus, Ryan, I didn't even know she was back on the streets.'

'The press bureau kept it as quiet as they could because her kind feeds off of the attention.'

'Guys, who is she?' Adam repeated.

'The most frequent serial killer our precinct has ever taken down,' Ryan told him. 'I know it sounds like I'm patronizing you but the briefing will give you a better idea of who she is.'

'Demon bitch from hell,' Esposito repeated, splintering off to get coffee. 'Watkins, you want a shot at your detective shield?'

'Yes sir,' she replied without hesitation.

'Normally, this kind of case is a case to make a name for yourself, but this is not a normal case. Your best way to show how you want get that shield is to play nice with the other kids.'

'It's a total cliche but there really is no I in team, and being a cop proves that,' Watkins replied with a level tone, jutted her chin at the open doors of the conference room. 'Here.'

Adam and Ryan found places, not near to the front to be eager beavers honing in on what was clearly another person's case, neither were they the cool kids at the back of the class. There was the low murmuring buzz of cop noise; cops didn't like the dark in any sense of the word with one exception - the sleep of the righteous after a hard case was closed and the bad guy, or girl in this case, was locked up tight in a box with no possible chance to escape.

They settled down when Karpowski marched in with Beckett and Newman on her heels. Her usually springy mane of curls was tamed back into a smooth severe bun and the black suit with a power red blouse said one thing to the rest of them in the room - she'd been called to One-PP. Usually not a good sign, but hopefully this time it meant they were getting what they called the buffet treatment, a free and clear pass to get whatever they needed to in order to get a serious danger off the streets.

'Officers, thank you for your patience and punctuality. We do not have much time so we need to make this as succinct as possible. We are against the clock to make sure that Kali Wenthram does not ring up a score beyond Louise Kingman.'


	6. Crack of the Starter's Pistol

'Eleven years ago, Dante Difieri was arrested when he was seen dumping the body of Annette Henshall down a sewer drain. He was arrested, and he told us the following story,' Karpowski said to the gathered cops as she used the remote of the digital projector to display the original crime scene's photos. 'He was hired by Kali Wenthram to dispose of a body.'

'Did no one consider he was in on it?' Officer LeBlanc asked.

'He was a thug for hire, he had no loyalties except the highest bidder,' Newman replied.

'When brought in for interview, Kali had very little to say except that the game was done for now and she would see us, for round two soon. In her confession, she admitted to killing fourteen people. She was tried, convicted and served eleven years of a fifteen year sentence.'

There was a low grumbling in the room, with Watkins piping up to ask the obvious question they were clearly all thinking. 'How the fuck does she get fifteen years with a body count at fourteen?'

'There was only circumstantial evidence and the corroborating statement of a convicted felon.'

'So how do we know she killed fourteen people?'

'Kali was photographed for processing, including tattoos and other marks.' Karpowski hit the button on the remote to show them the pictures. 'Fourteen tattoos, each one corresponding to a kill. Hearts for women, stars for men. Five stars, nine hearts, each with a name. Those names were cross referenced against Missing Persons records and each tattoo lines up with a person. Beckett.'

'This is where things are going to get sticky. Kali's psych profile is a key part of our need and method to catch her. She is what is known as a sociopathic omnivore. She has no preference of a particular race, age or sexual grouping. She also has no concept of remorse, regret, or compassion so she does not hesitate about killing. As was noted in her initial confession, she views this as a game and her job is to try and beat us.'

'We caught her once, we can do it again,' Adam pointed out, and Beckett and Newman both nodded slowly.

'We will, you're right, however Kali is not going to make it easy on us. She is a very tidy person, leaves no electronic trail, no finger prints, nothing that can be traced to her.'

'Email, cellphone, anything?'

'Nothing obvious. We will need to be thorough and stringent,' Karpowski told them, drilling a fingertip into the table-top. 'She will not slip the system this time. I've spoken with the DA as well as Deputy Chief of Detectives Montgomery. The courts will ask for the death penalty if she comes out of any confrontation alive. That does not mean we become gun-happy outlaw hunters. We do this by the book, however all of my people have been cleared to treat this particular predator with extreme hostility and prejudice.'

She cleared her throat a little. 'Everyone, this woman is not just a criminal, she is a monster and she must be stopped so more innocent people do not die because she thinks human life is expendable. All questioning will be done by myself and Detective Beckett, Detective Newman will co-ordinate information between the original case and the new information coming in.'

'The department will be broken into teams of three, each headed by a detective, third-grades included,' Newman informed them. 'You will be going over tip-line records, manning a new tip line we are currently setting up, re-interviewing witnesses and family members from the first case. She will assign you your teams, please see her for your file groupings and tasks. Dismissed.'

The captain left with Newman and Beckett and everyone in the room exploded into noise, the frenetic noise of cops wanting to get their bad guy, or in this case their bad girl. Adam elbowed his way over to Newman's desk, tried to see if he could get a word with his partner. He'd seen him go through some tough stuff, but this was different. This was Newman's Waterloo, much in the same way he and Beckett had needed to round up the men responsible for their parents' deaths.

He was headed off at the pass by Beckett herself, who shoved a file folder two inches thick into his chest. 'Adam,' she said quietly, 'not now. He needs to have the room to do this.'

'Okay.'

'You're with Toh and Watkins,' she continued, steering him back to his own desk where the two uniforms were waiting for him. 'Going over reports on victims eleven and twelve to find any linking details to give us a pattern. Consider this a push towards second grade.'

'Right.' Adam felt a lick of panic, wondered if Lindsay had ever felt this way when she'd started out during her residency. He looked at Toh, who had more years of experience than he and Watkins put together, and Watkins who was bright and shiny as a penny. 'Okay we've got a task, we are looking for anything that might give us a link between any of the previous victims to give us an idea of how the victims are selected.'

'Sounds good boss.' Toh looked at Adam and felt for the cop. 'Adam, you got this.'

'What do we need to do?' Watkins asked, wanting to pat his hand in comfort; she'd seen the look on his face on Brie's face when she'd come in from a rough day at work. Instead she opened the file folder like a little kid sneaking an early peak at her Christmas gifts. 'Chantal Russell and Robert Dillon? We're investigating the eleven-year-old murder of Bob Dillon?'

'Funny.' The joke was exactly what Adam needed to get his head to the right place. 'Okay team, we need a fresh sheet looking for commonalities, I need to get in touch with these two lovely ladies.'

He opened the file, tapped on the report where the names of two witnesses were listed front and centre. 'Melonga Gilderchuck and Thea Conch, they were with Chantal the night she disappeared from a club.'

'It's a good idea,' Toh agreed, shuffling out Robert's file, began to sift through the information with Watkins. 'Think you'll still be able to get in touch with them?'

'Yeah, they've kept up on information about Kali and have a look here.' Adam held up a file with all of Kali Wenthram's court details; all teams had been given the most up to date file on Kali's case. 'They testified at her parole hearing to keep her inside.'

'They are going to be pissed when they find out what her plans have been recently.'

'Very much so, but I think if in the throes of their shock and grief the last time around, they were able to give as much detail as they did they will be able to handle this and make sure no one else goes through what they did?'

'What did they go through?'

'They were out at a club with Chantal and a woman came up to them, started chatting with them and paying special attention to Chantal. They didn't think much of it, especially when Thea and Melonga told her they were going to meet up with some friends from work and Chantal said she was going to head home since she had to be up early the next morning,' Watkins informed them as she read the report from Chantal's file. 'They didn't think anything of it when they didn't see or hear Chantal the next morning, as she was supposed to be at work and she moves in their apartment fairly quickly. Then the cops showed up on their doorstep and all hell breaks loose. Melonga checked herself into the hospital three days before the funeral so she could get some downers in order to make it through the services.'

'Wow.' Toh shook his head. 'I can't imagine how much pain they must have been in.'

'Kid gloves, then, when we call and ask them to talk to us about the worst moment of their life,' Adam advised them, and turning to his phone, dialed the contact number for the women. 'Let's pray they won't shut us out or we'll be royally fucked.


	7. Pressure of the Case A

The line rang and rang, but Adam wasn't about to give up - this women were one of the first people to see Kali up close and personal when she selected a victim. It was devastating that it had been their friend but Adam had a gut feeling Melonga and Thea would be able to give him more than they realized.

Just as his stronghold of courage and almost blind belief it would work began to crumble, the call connected and a lovely Australian voice came over the line. 'Yes, hello?'

'Hi, is this Thea Ghomeshi?'

'Who is this, please?'

'My name is Detective Adam Brennan, I'm with the Homicide division of the NYPD Twelfth precinct. I need to speak to you about your friend Chantal Russell.'

'Oh, God, she's it again, isn't she?'

'Yes, Kali Wenthram is the prime suspect in-'

'Bloody fucking hell, you wouldn't have rang me up if you only suspected she was up to no good. What do you need to talk to me about?'

'I was hoping if you were available you would be able to come to the precinct and speak to me. You and Ms. Gilderchuck both.'

'Name the time and place. That ruddy selfish bitch took my best friend from me, and if she's hurting other people the way she-'

'Missus Ghomeshi, I understand your grief completely.'

'I will call Melonga and we will be there as soon as we can be.'

'Thank you.' Adam breathed it out, bounced his fist lightly on his desk as he gave her the address and instructions of what to do when they arrived. 'We will speak with you soon.'

'Breakthrough?'

He looked up, saw Ryan was on his way to his desk. 'Maybe. Two friends of Chantal Russell, victim number eleven, agreed to come in and give us a refresher on the events of the night Chantal disappeared.'

'That'll help. Javi and I are going to fetch the pathologist's report on Louise Kingman.'

'Isn't Lanie delivering it herself over here?'

'No, she wants one of us to get it so Lanie can oversee the other departments at the morgue,' Ryan explained. 'Our uniforms are here on paperwork and-'

'Ryan!'

Ryan looked over his shoulder, saw the smouldering look Karpowski was giving him from the doorway of the conference room. 'Yes sir, Captain.'

'ME, report, now.'

'Yes sir.'

Ryan scuttled off, collecting Esposito on his way. Neither spoke until they were in Esposito's car, where both let loose. 'Jesus, this is fucking scary,' he breathed. 'I thought I'd dealt with feeling so...cornered, I guess, when I was back in uniform.'

'All I can think of is my kids. Kali is no fucking dummy, what's to stop her from finding out information about the officers, their families, their children as ways to get leverage on us?'

'I know, I know.' Ryan shook his head as Esposito whipped out of the parking garage. 'What's to stop this bitch from going after Dell or Mally, Tessi, Max, the twins?'

'I can't think of that right now, bro,' Esposito said tightly. 'All I know is this bitch is going down. How, I'm not quite sure yet, but this woman is not walking away from us scotch-free like last time.'

'Do you even remember that case?'

'Only like every other cop, the mad scramble after her confession, having so many people flood the station and ask if their missing loved one was one of her fourteen fucking chosen people.'

'Not a time when you felt like a good cop,' Ryan said, huffing a breath out his nose. 'And we were only on the fringe, Will Newman and K-Pow were the ones in charge of it. Can't imagine what's going on with either of them.'

'I know the captain can take it but Will...' Esposito shook his head. 'I don't see him coming out of this one with his badge.'

'You think he'll get tossed? Break the blue line and go rogue to get Kali Wenthram at any cost?'

'No, I think we will get her and Will won't be able to take it anymore.'

'That's a pretty hefty assumption to make, bro.'

'I know but...Christ, Kevin, you didn't see what I saw earlier.'

Ryan shifted in his seat, looked at his partner. 'What did you see?'

'Newman, he...he was washing his hands in the men's room and I saw him with his sleeves rolled up. He has the Roman numeral fourteen tattoo on the inside of his arm. I asked him about it and he said it was to remember the fourteen lives Kali took because she felt like it.'

'It would be hell on him if that got out.'

'Carrying a wound like that, it's worse than Beckett's, I mean, Beckett's at least you get it, you know?' Esposito knew he was rambling a little but he didn't give a fuck. His partner, his brother, would know how to make sense of it. 'It's her mother. But these ones...I know we all have the certain cases that dig deeper than others but this seems like...I don't know what, it's just...it's off.'

'It sure is, and it's not too hard to figure why he wants her caught. Why all of us want her caught.'

'What was that phrase again? An omni-whatever?'

'Omnivore,' Ryan supplied. 'It usually applies to members of the animal kingdom who eat both meat and plants. Colloquially, it means someone who devours everything in their path.'

'How do we catch someone like that?'

'Sooner or later, a pattern emerges, hence the uniforms going over and over the first fourteen victims' lives.'

'What about Louise Kingman? Does anyone care about her?' Ryan asked quietly while Esposito found parking near the morgue.

'We all care about her. Newman is taking her case very personally, and he is going to figure it out.'

'Does she stalk people or is it just spur of the moment?'

'Hard to say, but it's probably a mix.' Esposito shut off the engine, twisted in his seat to look at his partner. 'KEvin, are you okay on this one? There's a possibility some of the women she takes might be pregnant.'

'Dude you're saying that like she's going to get more.' Even as he said it, Ryan heard how naive it sounded. 'Forget I said that.'

'No, it's a nice mentality to have, but look at the history here. Kali Wenthram killed fourteen people in the span of nine days, that's almost two a day. The question isn't if, the questions are when, how and where.'

'So let's go see if we can get answers to keep that number as low as possible.'

They left the car, headed inside to see what Lanie could tell them. Neither were surprised when they saw Lanie sitting at her workbench office space in her autopsy theatre; the addition of her husband standing behind her, rubbing her shoulders had them hanging back a little.

'Dave, I...I'm not sure I can do this case again. It was hard enough the first time.'

'Lanie, I love you and I know what you went through when Kali was dropping bodies like sprinkles. I also know you came out of that better than ever at your job and more sensitive to the living because of it. So tell me how it is you think you're already failing on this one.'

'Because...' she trailed off, sighed. 'I don't know, I just feel like I should have.'

'You'll make it through this. Dented, no question, but not broken.'

Lanie spun in her chair and gave Dave a kiss, that had the Ry-Sposito monster looking elsewhere. 'I love you right back,' she murmured to him, then raised her voice. 'Ryan, Esposito, it's rude to hover in the doorway.'

'Oh, uh, we figured you and Dave might want a little privacy,' Ryan stammered, knowing his cheeks were turning a little pink.

'Either way, come on in. I have something for you already.'

'That was fast.'

'Technology's faster than it was six months ago, nevermind eleven years ago. This is something we missed the first time around on Annette Henshall which could give us a major leap now.'


	8. Leads of Events Past

'I completed the autopsy, and cause of death was blood loss from the cutting of the femoral arteries as well as the carotid in the throat. However, there was enough left in her body that we were able to do a blood panel where my crack team of lab techs found this.'

Lanie pulled away from her husband, who kissed her quietly before leaving, and grabbed the file folder off her desk for the detectives. 'Trace amounts of a chemical known as triptophenolite.'

'Trip to who-what?'

'Triptophenolite,' Lanie repeated, feeling a little more back in stride as she corrected Esposito. 'It's a numbing agent commonly found in most hospital grade anesthetic cocktail, designed to slow cognitive responses to the muscles so the patient doesn't flail around during surgery.'

'Okay, that's great, that's a great way to get a lead on her,' Ryan said, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

'Here's the hang up. Triptophenolite is also found in common local anesthetics as well, pain relievers you can get at any common drug store.'

'Not as much as you might think,' Esposito countered, his wheels turning. 'We can search out purchases of high quantities, isolate them, see where she's doing her shopping.'

'It can also be ordered on line as well, and is commonly done so for sports clubs by house physicians. If you go on that alone, you could put someone like my father on the short list.'

'How is your dad doing?'

'He's great, he's in town for a few days with the team and the kids are thrilled to see their poppy. Anyways, back to business. The kicker is this - triptophenolite is absorbed like heroin. It has to be a liquid form in order for it to have the effect like it had on Louise. At the rate Kali goes through her victims, she would need to purchase hypoallergenic, hermetically sealed needles and those can only come through a medical supplier.'

'Why did this not get noticed eleven years ago?' Esposito asked her.

'Because triptophenolite has a super fast rate of decay within the body. The only reason we caught it as we did now is because we found Louise so quickly. Had she been found even twenty minutes later, we would be sitting here with our thumbs up our asses.'

'Doesn't that sound pleasant,' Ryan muttered, bounced the file against his palm. 'Thanks Lanie, this is huge.'

'Anything I can do to help.' Lanie looked over to where Louise Kingman lay on her table, stitched up and draped. 'She deserves it.'

'Thanks Lanie.'

The detectives left, waiting until they were in the elevator to the parking garage before saying a word. 'This could give us a line on ways to catch her, Javi,' Ryan breathed.

'Yeah, well, let's try some out first before we go spraying our shorts in delight.'

'Yeah, I save that for Jenny. You know what I mean,' he protested when Esposito laughed at him. 'Let's head on back to the stable, see what our fearless leader has to say about this.'

* * *

'Detective Brennan, you have a visitor.'

Adam looked up from his desk to see Watkins there; he looked past her to see a very pregnant brunette woman holding her belly from underneath with one hand while she clutched nervously at her purse strap. Beside her was a nearly six-foot redheaded woman and following behind them was a Middle-Eastern looking man. All three looked calm enough, but as Adam left his desk to approach them, he could see the wounded light in their eyes.

'Missus Ghomeshi?'

'Yes that's me.' The pregnant woman offered her hand, then gestured to the others. 'My husband Ben and my sister Melonga.'

As there was zero family resemblance, Adam understood the title was used in the way Lindsay referred to Sloan and Alexis. He shook her hand and gestured to one of the lounges. 'Please, come in and sit down. Officers Watkins and Toh will be joining us.'

'I don't want you ganging up on my wife,' Ben said with an edge of warning in his voice as they followed Adam into the private space. 'She's due in a few weeks and I won't risk her health and well-being for your police case.'

'Of course not, sir,' he replied, all sympathetic graciousness. 'We want to keep our questions direct and to the point, but as Miz Gilderchuck and yourself were also part of the original investigation into Chantal's disappearance, we want to go over this with a fine-tooth comb. The smallest detail could make the difference.'

'I understand. I work in IT support for a software company, I write software patches all day long.' Melonga shifted her long denim-clad legs, rubbed Thea's shoulder in support. 'We are here to help you stop that fucked-up lunatic in any way we can.'

'Okay.' Adam waited until Watkins and Toh had joined him before continuing. 'I know this is a lot to ask but I need you to walk me through the events of the night when Chantal disappeared.'

'She didn't disappear, she was taken, and we should have seen it, should have been better friends, we...' Thea trailed off as tears sparkled in her eyes but didn't spill over. 'There...It was a girls' night out, the three of us, and we'd gone for drinks at a club.'

'Do you remember which one?'

'Kinda hard to forget details of the day you last see your best friend alive.' She rubbed her temple, sighed. 'It was Forgione on Fourth, not a club-club for dancing, just a place to go and lounge in your fancy clothes, you follow me?'

'Yeah, my fiancee and I were just at a place like that last weekend,' Watkins supplied, and Adam watched the shaken pregnant woman unwind just a fraction. 'How many were there?'

'Just myself, Melonga and Chantal. We had gone to celebrate being in New York for a year and we ran into some people from work, started talking, like you do. Chantal was...she was upset, feeling left out which I thought was so odd because Chantal was usually able to talk to people easily that she'd never met. I keep reliving that moment over and over, that if I had just told her not to leave if she was feeling left out, she'd be here.'

'You told her to leave?'

'She took me aside, said she wasn't feeling like part of the group anymore because she was the only one who didn't work at our office so she felt left out. I told her I wasn't looking to be her baby sitter and hold her hand so if she felt like that, maybe she should just go home.'

'It's not your fault, Thea,' Ben reassured her, stroking her back in a move that was part sympathy part soothing. 'You can't keep blaming yourself for it.'

Toh went to open his mouth to press on, then caught the subtle shake of Adam's head, eased back. All three police officers waited while Thea wept a little, knowing she was in no condition with her hormones to handle being bossed around. When she'd pulled it together, she brushed at her eyes, huffed out a breath. 'I thought she'd gone home, and when she hadn't I was so relieved, I saw her talking to this pretty brunette girl sharing a drink. We apologized, me and Melonga, for being right tits to her and not realizing how wrapped up we were in our conversation with our co-workers. She drank her drank-'

'A round Kali had ordered for them,' Melonga interjected.

'Right, and she asked if we wanted to go with her and Kristy to get some food.'

'She called her Kristy?' Adam asked.

'Yes.' Thea nodded. 'Kristy Wilson.'

Initials, Adam thought, likes her own monogram. 'Okay, go on.'

'Right, she'd invited us to get a bite to eat, but I turned it down, I didn't want to say what I wanted to say in front of a total stranger so I suggested we go get breakfast the next morning. She said, okay, text me the details in the morning. And we left.'

'That was the last time we ever heard or saw her,' Melonga said quietly.


	9. Buzz of Possibility

'She is a lot tougher than her friends are giving her credit for.'

'She'd have to be to get through that chat we just had.'

Adam nodded in agreement with Watkins as they watched Thea Ghomeshi waddle out flanked by her husband and best friend, then sighed, scrubbed his hand over his face. God he wanted to talk to his wife, hearing his son laugh. Zane was a giggly one, everything delighted him. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose him the way all those people had lost their loved ones because of Kali Wenthram.

And he couldn't afford to dwell on that, not when they had a job to do here. Adam popped the SD card from his recorder into the adapter on his computer - being a bit of a whiz with electronics had meant Beckett and Karpowski got him the good toys when he'd been promoted to detective - and let the recording transfer to text. He printed it, gave copies to Watkins and Toh who were beginning to look more than a little battle fatigued.

'Guys, I know it's a long day already, but you know and I know this one is gonna do that to us,' he reminded his team. 'Have iether of you eaten yet?'

'Nah, it's only-' Toh checked his watch '-two, we'll be good for a few more minutes.'

'Good because we've got more details to tag through here.'

'Everyone, listen up!'

The bustle of the bullpen stilled but didn't stop as Karpowski appeared from the doorway of her office with Ryan and Esposito standing to her right. 'Detectives Ryan and Esposito have new information for us.'

'Kali Wenthram subdues her victims with a drug called triptophenolite, which has to be injected in order for it to have the effect it does on her targets,' Ryan explained to the room full of cops, waiting like Mets fans for the pitcher to throw the final strike of the championship game. 'It is commonly found in over the counter painkillers, but she would require large quantities to distill it down. As well, the drug must be administered by injection in order for it to work this quickly and given her .'

'She isn't a home invader so we are looking for places get a casual drink after work or go for a night out with friends, somewhere that you wouldn't be noticed bumping into strangers or where getting a little bit wasted would be out of place,' Esposito added. 'Concentrate your efforts on the paperwork to figuring out where our victims may have crossed paths.'

'Thank you Detectives,' Newman told them briskly. 'My team will take the medical supplies options, Ryan and Esposito you will take on the drugs, the rest keep cracking on the old cases and seeing if we can drum out a connection.'

'Dismissed,' Karpowski added, and the hum turned into a buzz once more as the cops returned to their sworn duty.

'Don't they know that most people go out clubbing with cash unless they have the dough to put it on a credit card for bottle service,' Watkins pointed out.

'Yes, you're absolutely right, Officer, however we are not looking for a noisy discothecque, we are looking for somewhere you would meet people and have conversation over drinks. Restaurants, pubs, working-class bars.'

'Chantal Russell was taken from the Forgione on Fourth. That's not exactly fish and chips territory is it?'

'Forgione on Fourth?' Adam repeated, and Toh felt the pop.

'Yeah, why?'

'Robert Dillon was last seen at a bar with his friends around eleven pm, City Hall Brewhouse on Eighth, at Park.' Adam twirled a pen in his fingers, then wheeled over to where Officers Avery and LeBlanc were running through paperwork with Detective Geoffs. 'You guys have locations on where your people were taken from?'

'Yes, um, just a second.' Avery moved stacks of paper around, found the page she was looking for. 'Yeah, Dagmar Winston was last seen in a coffee shop on Fifth Street, and Louis Van Houten disappeared after a fight with his girlfriend when they were at the Fox and Crown Irish pub at East Ninth Street. Van Houten walked out, shared a taxi with a dark-haired woman, never heard from again. Why?'

'Can I get a copy of that?'

'Sure.'

Adam snagged the paper, pointed at Toh and Watkins. 'Go to the other teams, get copies of the last known locations of the victims. I think we may have figured out a pattern.'

'Seriously?'

'Yeah.'

It took precious time, getting the details, but as he did the hum of positivity - hell even hope - rippled through the bullpen. He rounded up all twelve other names and locations, fed the data into the mapping software on his unit. When Adam had done so, he sat, staring at what he'd done, Watkins looking over his right shoulder and Toh his left; the latter slapped his palm against Adam's back.

'Dude, you are a fucking genius.'

* * *

_Lower East Side - October 14, 3:34pm_

Tyson McKinley hated many things in the world, but he'd learned from his very Greek maternal grandmother to learn to find the good inside certain things. So he hated his job - he had a job to give him food and shelter, Yaya reminded him, and the hours of being a call-center worker meant he was home at the times when his wife and two year old daughter needed him to be. So he wished he could taken Ellie and Amy on a trip to Disney World soon - he would find a way to make his daughter's dreams come true and have a second honeymoon with his wife, it would work itself out with hard work and a little sweat, Yaya told him.

So his wife made him go to the twenty-four-seven mart for milk and fruit at the end of the block after work. Like a chump he'd walked right passed it when he'd left the subway station and had to walk all the way back to the end of the street to Second Avenue. But Tyson knew between disappointing Ellie and seeing Ellie wrinkle her nose when she gave him that little 'was that so hard' grin when she made pancakes the next morning. He loved the post-wakeup-sex pancakes she made. There was no difference in the recipe, but Tyson knew they tasted way better after the major release of all those endorphins and hormones in the bloodstream.

He patted his pockets, checked to see he had his wallet on him and grinned when he checked it for cash. His little Amy had put a note in with his twenties, a little scrap of paper that had a green number twenty on it. The kid was a freaking genius with crayons, she was going to be a painter or an animator, or maybe she'd create her own graphic novel like Meredeth Esposito had with her childhood friend Kristof. He couldn't wait until Amy was old enough that he could read_ Guardians of Olympus_ with her. She would like the bright colours, the idea of secret superheroes. Amy was already calling him Supah-Daddy whenever he did something she thought was awesome. Of course, being that Amy was two years old that usually meant things like putting her Cheerios in front of her and making her stuffed monkey Banana talk to her at bedtime. Still, if those things made him a hero, he'd do them anytime anywhere for his little Amy.

The door to the mart opened and because he was lost in Daddy-land, he collided sharply with a woman of medium, unimpressive features whose arms were full of soft drinks. The woman bounced backwards, as did Tyson and they both stammered apologies.

'I'm so sorry, miss, let me help you with that.'

'Oh, thanks. That's what I get for forgetting stuff for a work party tomorrow, huh?'

'Do you have a basket or anything?'

'Yeah, you'd think I'd plan that far ahead.'

Tyson got to his feet, held out his hand to help her up; she kept her smile light and sweet as she took his hand in hers - the one where she'd palm a syringe of her favourite little cocktail. She watched the wince in his face, the knowledge and dilation in his eyes.

'Actually, I do plan that far ahead.'


	10. Pressure of the Case B

'Will, you got a second?'

Newman looked up from his desk, saw his partner standing there with printouts in his hands. 'What's that?' he asked, jutting his chin at the sheaf of paper in his hands.

'It's a possible geographic profile.'

'Let's have it.'

Adam blinked at Newman; this was not their style. He understood the man was under duress, no question, but Newman wasn't the type to bark orders or demand like a diva. 'Hey, you alright?'

'Fine,' Newman snapped. 'The profile, Detective.'

Without another word, Adam handed over the information he'd found, saw Newman's eyes dart back and forth. He opened his mouth to explain it to his partner what he saw, what he'd learned but before he could so much as draw in a breath, Newman was out of his chair and striding towards Karpowski's door. Adam watched him knock once, go in and slap the paper on the captain's desk. They appeared to argue, and for a moment, it almost looked like Newman was telling the boss to fuck right off. What the hell was going on with him?

'Hey, Espo.'

Esposito, who'd been returning to his desk with paper print-outs of the medical supplier information, stopped when Adam called out to him. 'Yo, Brennan, what's up? You look like Lindsay put cayenne in your boxers or something.'

'I had a hunch, maybe could have turned it into a lead.'

'So? It fizzles you move on and worry about something more productive in a case like this.'

'And what do you do when your own partner takes your data and goes to the captain himself?'

'He what?' This had Esposito pausing, blinking in disbelief. 'The Will Newman I know wouldn't have even dreamed of pulling that shit.'

'Yeah, well...' Adam gestured to Karpowski's office. 'He's in there now, chatting her up and in five minutes or so, you can be sure that she is gonna parade him out here like a show pony.'

'Adam, you and Will having issues?'

'No, he's great but...this case it's messed him up a lot, having these old scars ripped nice and fresh.' Adam scratched the back of his head. 'To be honest, I'm worried he's taking it too far.'

'How do you mean?'

'I've seen cops have those old and cold cases that dug in deep. Kate's mother, my dad immediately spring to mind and...we worked as a team but more importantly, we knew _why_ we had to work as a team,' Adam fumbled a little, 'you get me?'

'Yeah, I get you.'

'Brennan!'

Adam straightened, the little kid caught talking while the teacher was giving the lesson. He saw Karpowski's face set in stern lines. 'Sir.'

'My office. Beckett, Esposito, Ryan, you three too.'

Esposito pulled a face at Adam, saw Ryan and Beckett move into the office as well. Karpowski shut the door behind them before moving to stand at her desk.

'Detectives, it's been brought to my attention that we may have a preliminary geographic profile, is that correct?'

'Yes, sir,' Newman said, and Esposito wanted to punch him; thankfully he added on, 'It was brought to my attention by my partner Brennan, that all the-'

'If it's his tip, let him talk,' Ryan interrupted, his usually pleasant face firm as stone. 'Otherwise you'll look like a stuck-up jackass.'

'Language, Detective,' Karpowski warned him, then looked at Newman. 'Though he has a point, Will. I brought you up better than to be a jackass to your fellow officers.'

'Right. Brennan.'

Adam cleared his throat, stepped over; he was reminded of the time during Johanna Beckett's case when he'd presented information exactly like this to Roy Montgomery in the very same office. Why did it feel so different three years later? 'I gathered all the last known locations from the missing persons reports, did an over-lay map and came up with this. All fourteen victims, plus where Louise Kingman was found, are all within a grid in an around Alphabet City. No one paid it much mind until Dante was caught with the body dump because that's an area where people tend to go off the grid for good.'

'Sadly true,' Karpowski agreed. 'Why figure this now?'

'It was what the detectives said about the drug she uses. Given Kali's attributes, unless she's like a female body builder or something, there's only so far she'd be able to carry dead weight of a grown man or woman. She'd have to have her hidey-hole in that area.'

'And how do you propose we do that?'

'Look for the initials K and W in any tenant lists of industrial buildings,' Beckett chimed in, as the picture Adam was painting began to come clear. 'We know she's a narcissist in love with her own self-importance, she would love to push it right under our noses. See what I can do, see what I can get away with and you can't do shit about it.'

'Language,' Karpowski said again mildly, making the others roll their eyes; the captain was a stickler for being clean-mouthed.

'Apologies, sir, but that's how she would say it to herself.'

'Be that as it may...Anyways, the point is, we could have a seriously good lead here that could get us some answers.'

'How do you-'

Esposito was interrupted when Karpowski's desk line rang, and she answered. All the cops in the room watched her face go from annoyance at being interrupted to outraged fury in the blink of an eye.

'What? What the fuck is this? No, you hold the scene, goddammit and you do not let a single goddamn person near the scene. Is OCME on scene yet? No, Boccarin's a preening media whore, get Doctor Parrish-Robbins over there now. I don't care officer, get her there now.'

Beckett whipped out her cellphone, texted a quick message to Lanie whom she knew was on her way to Madison Square Garden to visit her father. _Girl, turn around and head back to the office, you're about to be called in on K-Pow's request_.

_What, why? I've got hockey tickets, it's a family night tonight,_ was Lanie's reply moments later.

_Because she just got a call about a second body already_.

She slipped her phone into her pockets, kept her face set as her captain slammed down her phone. 'Kali Wenthram's struck again already. Okay. Okay, team, new deal. Newman, you and Beckett head out for the new body to talk to the ME. Ryan, Esposito, and Adam, you guys take your teams, start canvassing, the rest will stay here, handle the paper-trails.'

'Sir.' Ryan nodded briskly. 'Where are we going?'

'Newman, Beckett, you two are going to East Fifth Street at Avenue B, the rest of you, you're going to start at Houston street, each three-man team working their way north via Second, First, and Avenue A. Actually, get Detective Geoffs, tell him to take his team and go through Avenue C, same blocks. We are focusing on finding witnesses. It's a busy area, someone had to see something, for fuck's sakes.'

Esposito wanted to teasingly say _Language, Captain,_ yet he knew that would earn him an ass-kicking of epic proportions that would just waste their time and energy away from catching this cuckoo-bananas-bitch. Instead he fixed a sober look to his face and nodded. 'You got it sir.'

'Questions?' When she received silence as an answer, Karpowski nodded. 'Dismissed.'

She waited until they had left before picking up her phone and dialing the number for One-PP. She keyed in the extension and wasn't surprised to get the secretary first.

'Deputy Chief of Detectives Roy Montgomery's office, how may I help you.'

'This is Captain Karpowski from the Twelfth Precinct, is the Chief available?'

'Certainly, one moment.'

She waited, drumming fingers on her desk and felt a moment of respite from a heavy day when she heard his voice.

'Roselyn, what's wrong?'

'Kali has put another person in the morgue already.'

'Jesus. What do you need from me?'

'A media conference and not from some hot-dog looking to preen for the cameras. I need you, sir.'


	11. Second Play of Round Two

'Beckett.'

'It's Karpowski.'

Beckett's hand went still has she hit the auto-lock on her keys to her Crown Vic, as she answered her phone just steps away from the crime scene tape; Newman, walking beside her, stopped too.

'Captain, what's the story?'

'Once you and Newman are done with the new crime scene and notifying the family, I need you back here for a media conference.'

'Media conference?' Beckett blinked. If there was anyone who was more publicity shy about her job than Beckett was, it was Karpowski. It was nearly comical the way she dragged her heels over attending press conferences. This time, however, it wasn't her captain's distaste for such events that had her worried. 'Sir, is that wise so early in the game?'

'Two bodies in less than twelve hours on the docket? We need to warn the public.'

'Who is taking it?'

'I called in our favourite deputy chief.'

Hearing that made Beckett breathe a micro-fraction easier. 'Good, that's good putting Montgomery on it, have him be the face for us. People like him, they trust him unconditionally.'

'That they do, and-'

'Sir, OCME has just arrived.' Beckett saw Lanie pop out of a cab in her off-duty clothes - a pair of dark jeans and her vintage Mighty Ducks of Anaheim jersey - and march straight over to the OCME van where she flashed her ID, went to retrieve protective gear from the back of the wagon.

'Copy that, Beckett, let me know when you're en route back here.'

'Of course, sir.'

She hung up, watched the way Boccarin got into a little bit of fa catty pissing match with Lanie. It was rare for her friend to let loose her temper but when she did it was formidable. Beckett still remembered when she'd been pregnant with RJ, how Lanie had been even more pregnant than her with Violet and still kicked her ass all around the town.

When Beckett heard Newman let out an uneasy breath beside her, she gave him a sharp look. She hadn't been so wrapped up she hadn't caught the whispers in the bullpen, or missed seeing what was right in front of her face - the lead detective was barely holding it together. 'Can you handle this?'

'I have to,' was all Newman said as he stared at the alleyway before ducking under the tape. 'Otherwise, I'm no good as a cop and if that's the case, I might as well put a bullet in my brain.'

'You can't think like that. Not now. Hey.'

She grabbed his arm, spun him so that he faced her and Beckett stared hard into his eyes. 'You listen to me. No one has the history on this case like you do. Don't let that destroy you.'

'It won't.' Newman's voice was cold steel but there was fire in his eyes, the kind that could melt steel to nothing more than a puddle. 'It won't Kate.'

'Good. Doctor Parrish-Robbins!'

Beckett lifted her voice to get Lanie's attention as she ducked under the tape, tugged on blue latex gloves. She sighed wearily when she saw the body of the man, the fresh tattoo on the inside of his upturned wrist. 'Any ID on him?'

'First on scene said his driver's license was laying in his hand, they bagged it for evidence already.'

'I'll take care of that.'

Lanie watched Newman sprint off to find the uniform, sent Beckett a telling look. 'That boy's a time bomb.'

'We all know it Lanie, but until he fucks up royally, Karpowski won't kick him. They investigated the original case on Kali Wenthram so they have the most insight.'

'And what good is that insight when he's got blinders on?' Lanie continued making notes in her chart, making a mental note to ensure Boccarin handed hers over too without getting in a snit. 'Reminds me of Dave when he's had some rough calls, he takes it all on himself and blames himself for not getting to someone in time.'

'You two should take a vacation together, sans children, when this is done.'

'My dad's already agreed to take his vacation time and come into town to take care of the kids while Dave and I go to Aruba for a week for an early anniversary gift to each other the first week in December.' Lanie winked at Beckett, lowered her voice. 'We're visiting that same place at Eagle Bay that Adam and Lindsay went to on their honeymoon.'

'Perfect.' Beckett needed no further explanation as it was common knowledge in their female circle of friends that Lindsay and Adam had gone to a nude beach resort for the first week of their honeymoon. Considering how many of them had posed nude for Sloan Channing's photography shows, neither did she consider those details an over-share; it did however put her in the frame of mind to just go home to her hubby and have some very good mind-clearing, soul-cleansing sex with him once the kids were in bed. _Focus_ she schooled herself. 'What can you tell us about this gentleman?'

'Tyson McKinley was subdued with triptophenolite. After presenting my findings to you and Pearlmutter this morning, he sprang for this.' Lanie gestured to a field kit item that consisted of a dip-strip not unlike a home pregnancy test and a series of colour-coded dots on the side. 'I can test for hte drugs she used and get a positive ID as well as take a sample prior to transportation. No more invasive than a liver-temp test.'

'Good. Same MO?'

'Sadly yes,' she sighed. 'Unlike Louise, Mister McKinley here wasn't wearing a skirt, he was left in his underwear and t-shirt out here behind the sport-repair shop.'

'Think there's any significance as to why this location for kill number two?'

The question had Lanie cocking her head to the side. 'You mean other than Kali giving us the finger while going 'nanny-nanny-boo-boo'? Not that I can think of, no. Stop it, it's a crime scene.'

'Sorry,' Beckett replied in a tremulous voice at her friend's choice of words while she tried to hold back the laughter. Something about Lanie being all technical one moment and hilariously childish the next never failed to hit her funny bone. 'Anything about the body different from Louise?'

'Again, I've only had a cursory glance, but both kill wounds are the same, location of the tattoo is still the same. Putting the license in his hand was different but then again, she wants us to make sure we know exactly who it is. A woman will have a purse on her and she was wearing a skirt. Unless this guy was taken from the Metrosexual Highland Games, Kali would have to improvise a little bit.'

'Yes yes she would.'

'Beckett. You'll get her.' Lanie tugged off a glove, patted her girl's shoulder in support. 'Ghandi once said every last monster in history always seems invincible for a short time.'

'Ghandi said that?'

'Okay, I'm paraphrasing a little but the idea is there.'

'Right.' Beckett sighed again, stepped aside as the OCME assistants came in to transport the body to the wagon. 'Newman and I have to notify next of kin and then it's back to the precinct for a media conference.'

'Shit.'

'Montgomery's doing it.'

'Oh. Say hi to him for me.'

'I'll do that,' Beckett said absently as she watched Newman walk back over to the cruiser, pull out his phone to send a text. The sight of him doing so made something inside her flare up like a geyser. All but goose-stepping out of the alley, she was in Newman's face in a matter of seconds. 'The fuck are you doing, Newman?'

'I'm texting Karpowski, telling her to hold off on the media conference script until we get back. I spoke with one of the officers on scene and he thinks he might have a witness.'

Beckett's sensibilities were still slightly affronted but she softened a little. 'What kind of witness?'

'Someone who saw a white delivery-type van park to block off this alley way shortly before the body was discovered.'


	12. Flight of the Witness

_Hello everyone! Yes I know it's been slow updates lately but the real world stresses have been taking their toll on me recently so updating hasn't been what I want it to be lately. Anyways, hopefully this chapter makes up for it! Careful not to freak out too much!_

* * *

Beckett felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention. 'A white delivery truck?'

'Yeah.'

'Show me.'

Newman turned on his heel, escorted her over to the cruiser where the woman, a plump brunette with rosy cheeks and dark searching eyes sat from the open-door back seat as she surveyed the crime scene under the watchful eye of Officer Avery. 'Miss Turner, please repeat for Detective Beckett what you told me about the van?'

'Sure and call me Laurel.'

'Laurel,' Beckett acquiesced. 'Tell me about the van.'

'Sure. I work over there.' Laurel pointed across the street from the alley's entrance where a clean storefront in a rather dingy neighbourhood gleamed like a polished crystal amongst coal briquettes. 'We sell antiques, mostly furniture and whatnot, and we're used to seeing people coming and going in vans around here.'

'This one was different?'

'Oh yeah.' Laurel nodded eagerly. 'I'm studying physics at college, I wanna design rollercoasters so I got a knack for watching the timing on things, noticing the details. We get all kinds-a buses and trucks and shit but I've got this little schedule you know?'

'I follow you.' Oddly, it made Beckett think of Roman Moore. 'Clearly this one wasn't one of your usuals in the area?'

'Nuh-uh. We get Jim Beckett making regular stops to us, he does a lot of refinishing for us, he's got his own place and truck up on-'

'I know my father's work location,' she replied a smile, making Laurel grin.

'Yeah, he's a righteous dude, very chill. Anyways, it wasn't his delivery truck, or Big Moe's or the Yahksas from Staten Island, so I thought, huh, that's weird. I watched it roll up to block the alley way, and I figured, shitty double-parkers don't respect shit so I got out my phone to snap the van and the license plates.'

Beckett's heart wanted to leap like a springbok. 'You got photos of the van and the license plates?'

'Van yeah, license plates only some of it. By the time I got there, the van was already on the move north, it disappeared like a ghost.' Laurel dug around in her Olympic-class cruiser of a handbag, pulled out her phone. 'I know y'all need to do your cop shit on it, but if you can just remember the photos on there are private, you know?'

'I understand. Taking anything beyond the scope of our investigation would be a violation of ethics.'

'Cool. I get a receipt, right, saying you guys didn't rip me off or whatevs?'

The woman had a unique turn of phrase, was all Beckett could think as she deposited the phone into an evidence bag. 'I need to ask you one important question, Laurel, and if you lie to me or whatevs, I will be seriously cross and you don't want that PLus your phone will tell the truth.'

'Sure.'

'What time did you see the van pull up and leave?'

'I saw it around quarter to five, I remember because I was looking at the clock and thinking about my plans for the night, thinking how my boss better be back on time so I can make my date on time. Pics should be in around there, maybe a few minutes later since it took me enough time to get out of the shop here.'

Beckett pursed her lips, nodded. The girl may have rambled but she had it where it counted it. She pulled out a card to hand to Laurel. 'Write down your contact information for me here, we'll let you know when you can pick up your phone.'

'Thank you.' Laurel sent Beckett a winning smile, but there was something in it that didn't quite reach the eyes. 'Guess that unfortunate was dropped off in the van, huh?'

'Given what you told me about the van, yes it is highly probable.'

'That bites, man. Sure hope his people are okay. Can I go now?'

Beckett nodded in affirmation, thanked her for her time before moving away as she thought about what the woman had said. Some people were just hard-bitten, used to violence so that when they tried for sympathy or even pity, it wasn't quite all the way there. From time to time she'd wondered if people had seen her that way - other cops, her father. But never Castle; he'd never questioned her humanity.

Sighing, she went across the road to the shop Laurel had pointed out and went in with her badge palmed discreetly. The cashier gave her the hairy eyeball, added a sneer making her smoke-creased face turn from character-actor ugly to downright frightening. To the lesser of nerve, of course; Beckett had dealt with tougher customers before her morning coffee some days.

'We ain't got no hot properties in here. I know the difference and I won't take 'em. I run a clean place so you can piss off from when ye came, pretty bitch-cop,' she informed Beckett in a craggy, smoke-ravaged Irish accent.

'I'm here about to ask you about your employee Laurel Turner, she witnessed a possible body dump of a homicide earlier?'

'T'ain't no Laurel here, lass.'

Beckett felt something drop in the pit of her stomach, remembering the look in Laurel's eyes, the hard cold look. 'She said she was in here shortly before a white van drove up and when it parked, it blocked the entrance to the alleyway in doing so. Laurel said she left the shop to photograph it to report it to the police, but it took off before she could get a clear picture on her phone of the license plates.'

'There was a van there, sure enough, but there wasn't any girl here taking any pictures on a god-fucking camera-phone. Believe me, I'd remember something like that.'

Beckett let out a sigh that was perilously close to a sob; she closed her eyes as she replayed the moment after she'd collected the phone, and stupidly told the girl she'd contact her to come and get the phone when it was ready for pick up. _Fucking duh, you idiot_, she chastised herself as she whirled out of the shop and sprinted to the cruiser where Avery was writing up her report.

'Officer, did you see which way Laurel Turner went when she left?'

'No, I didn't, I was writing up my first-on-scene report, sir.'

'Fuck a duck, fuck a goddamn fuck duck! Jesus Jesus Jesus!'

'Sir, she'd been dismissed by you, was I supposed to hold her?' Avery asked, her normally rosy cheeks going pale with worry.

'No. No, this is not your fault, Avery, it's mine. It's mine,' Beckett repeated half to herself as she wound her way over to Newman. She had to tell him, no way around it and knew that despite his being a second-grade, this was his case that he'd kept with him for eleven years.

She eased him away from the people he was speaking to, tried to find a spot as private as she could in such a public space. 'Will, I...'

'What is it, Kate?'

'She was here.'

'What?'

'Kali, she was here,' Beckett repeated. 'I didn't recognize her at first, she had a different facial structure and had a twang when she spoke, but the eyes...'

'Kate.' Newman looked at her, trying to read her. 'Did you speak to her directly, did you recognize anything she said, something that might have given her away?'

'Will. She called herself Laurel Turner.'

'Lau- the witness from the antique store?'

'Convenient, wasn't it?' Beckett snapped bitterly. 'We have our second murder from that lunatic bitch in less than twelve hours on our hand, and she gives us all the finger by showing up like a goddamn stellar witness to give us some kind of little carrot to chase like fucking rabbits!'

'Get back to the station, tell Karpowski everything,' Newman told her; neither of them bothered worrying how he was giving the superior officer orders. 'I'll brief the officers here, then I'll put it out on the radio that Kali's up'd her game.'

'We need to end her game before more people die.'


	13. End of the Day A

'Captain-'

'Not now Beckett.'

'Sir-'

'Not now.'

It took all of Beckett's strength not to simply walk over to Karpowski's desk and pressed the button on her desk phone to end her call - she had the line on speaker phone and could clearly hear Montgomery on the other end. 'Chief, sir, you're gonna want to hear what I have to say before your press conference.'

'Fire away Detective.'

Beckett relayed the events of the exchange with the alleged witness, apologizing for her error that she realized it was their target all along and as expected Karpowski just didn't have the energy to rake her over the coals. Instead she rubbed her brow, gave a gusty sigh of frustration.

'Yet another alert to add into your briefing, Roy,' she informed Montgomery, and Beckett heard her former captain's noise of impotence too.

'We are not dealing with an ordinary criminal here, Roselyn. We all know that, so you can't expect her to have any kind of pattern or certainty with the one exception we know she is fond of. Kali likes it quick and clean so we won't have the luxury of time to figure her out.'

'Very true sir.'

'Roselyn,' Montgomery said, using her first name again, a smart move Beckett thought. 'This is going to get worse before it's better, every cop on your watch knows that. This is not the time to give up. You know more than you did eleven years ago, you know more than you did this morning. Use that to your advantage. I have to go, I'll be there in an hour. Briefing will be at six sharp, press release at six-thirty. And Beckett?'

'Yes sir.' Beckett felt her body shift to attention though Montgomery couldn't see her over the phone.

'The reason you missed this is because you've been on duty for nearly twenty-four straight hours. As soon as the briefing is done, go home to Rick and the kids. Consider it a superseding direct order. That a problem for you, Captain?'

'Not at all sir.'

'Excellent. I will see you in sixty.'

The line went dead and for a moment, there was only the sound of two powerful frustrated women in Karpowski's office. Beckett nearly opened her mouth to apologize once more when the captain blurted out, 'Do you ever think he made a mistake?'

'Sir?'

'Montgomery. After that business went down with the Seven-Two, and it came out that Sean Delancy was a lying murderous drug-ring kingpin, Montgomery made me captain over you. Do you ever think he made a mistake?'

'Never, sir,' Beckett replied immediately, suddenly feeling the fatigue of the last twenty-four hours on her shoulders. 'I would be less than useless behind that desk and you do this office a credit by living up to the standard that Montgomery set for us here.'

'There are moments, especially on days like today, when it feels like I'm digging a hole by leaning against a brick wall and my feet are sliding in the mud.'

'I know the feeling sir. I - we all have that one case that no matter how you chew over it, no matter how you try to see the path to take, everywhere you look you feel it's blurring your vision. But sir...'

Beckett hesitated, and the hesitation was enough for Karpowski to put together what it was that had her first-grade so knotted up. 'It's Will, isn't it?'

'Sir, I don't think he can handle this case anymore, if he ever could handle it resurfacing at all.'

'William Newman is a time bomb that will blow far worse if I sideline him. He would have no qualms writing his own score and I raised him up better than that.'

'I know you did, I was there when he first started out with us almost ten years ago.'

'When did we get old, Kate?' Karpowski laughed.

'I don't feel old, I feel experienced.'

'Nicely said.' The captain frowned, looked out through her windows where she saw others returning from their field missions with the same battle worn expressions. 'Beckett, spread it through the bullpen - after Mongtomery's conference, everyone calls it a day. We need to rest if we want all the parts in working order. Anyone tries to protest, tell them I'll have them on Traffic in Queens before start of shift tomorrow morning.'

'Understood sir.'

'Kate?'

'Yeah?' Beckett had turned to leave, glanced back. 'Sorry, yes sir.'

'You wouldn't just tell me I'm good at this captain thing to kiss my ass to get us through this, would you?'

'Not for a nanosecond, sir. IF I thought you were fucking it up - pardon my language - you wouldn't be able to shut me up on it.'

'Good answer. Don't forget about the deputy chief's orders. Once the briefing is done, you are heading home to your family. We all are. We sure as hell need it today.'

* * *

Shortly before seven o'clock, Adam was unlocking the door to his home, and the moment he was through the door he wanted to weep at what he saw, what he heard, what he smelled. Lindsay was making breakfast-for-supper - bacon and waffles with all the fixings, fruit salad, lattes and smoothies - while Zane sat in his high-chair and banged away on the tray of it with his little plastic spoon while he babbled praise to his mother. In the background was the sound of Disney's _Aladdin_ on the television, the bright colours somehow soothing to Adam's tired eyes.

'Dadadada!' Zane caught sight of his father coming home and sent him a charming, innocent smile. 'Mamimamimami! Dadadada!'

'Yes, Daddy's home, isn't he?' Lindsay glanced over her shoulder, then turned around fully when she saw the shell-shocked look on her husband's pale face. 'Adam, what is it, what's wrong?'

'Not here,' Adam replied in a voice suddenly thick with tears. He took her hand, giving her time to turned off the stove before tugging her into their bedroom. Once there, he sat on the end of the bed and buried his face in his hands. 'Oh, God Linds. It's been a fucking shitty day.'

'I can see that.'

'There were two murders by that bitch today. Two in a single day, I can't- who the fuck does that? And how do we stop her? How do we keep our loved ones safe?'

'Adam.' Lindsay knelt on the bed beside him, rubbing her hands over his back in soothing circles the way she did when he had the flu. 'Adam, you are a good cop, you will find this bitch and roast her like a side of pork. Everyone knows that.'

'I don't know that, not in the moment when I had to face Thea Ghomeshi and Melonga Gilderchuck this morning.'

'Who?'

Adam explained their relationship to the case, the looks on their faces as they relived the worst moments of their lives. 'I put them through that and for what? Kate...Kate told us all that Kali had been at her crime scene, that she'd actually talked to her and got the bump on her too late for it to do us any good.'

'That doesn't mean she's better than you.'

'This is Kate Beckett we're talking about, not some dumb rookie, Linds.' Adam turned to her now, his eyes as raw as his nerves. 'She saw to it that I got my badge, my reputation back, she is the best cop I know and how do I repay her? By not coming up with anything of use at all.'

'Adam.' Lindsay said his name again, took his face in her hands. 'You fought your way back, she just gave you the path to do it. No one told you to do everything you did during the Raglan case, you took that on yourself under her watch. And if you want to make her proud, you have to do three things right now.'

'Oh yeah?'

'Yes. Get changed so we can eat, play with your son, and then when it's bed time, fuck your wife senseless to just let it all go.'

Adam gave her a smile, followed it up with a kiss. 'I can definitely do that.'


	14. End of the Day B

Beckett wasn't sure how she got from her precinct to her home, but when she made it there, she was never more glad in her life to walk through the door and see her loved ones all assembled there. Castle was in the kitchen with RJ hovering near his elbow to observe the cooking process of whatever mad science project they were working on, while Jojo was in the living room with Shane, Alexis and Petra and Martha of course, was sitting at the island with a look of loving adoration on her face as she watched her babies living in the moment.

It was her mother-in-law that first spotted Beckett home and set down her wine glass with a sharp clink on the tile countertop, approached her with open arms.

'Kate, you poor dear, you look like a zombie,' she trilled, drawing everyone's attention to Beckett's arrival. 'We watched Montgomery's press conference and I have a few more choice words than he does for that nasty little witch.'

'Mumum!' RJ flew over, threw his arms around her waist with the same level of drama as his grandmother. 'Mumum, are you really catching a super-scary bad girl like Mister Chief Montgomery said so on the television?'

'We are.'

'You are so brave, Mumum.' Jojo had left her niece alone long enough to hug her mother, squeeze her hand tightly in reassurance. 'You will find her and tell her to stop being so bad and that she is going to jail for a time-out.'

'Mom, are you okay?' Alexis stood up, Petra in her arms while she sucked away heroically on a bottle. 'Is it serious, do we need to make travel plans?'

'No, no.' Beckett felt her head reel as she remembered that Kali had told her she recognized her father's work truck and had never been more thankful than in that moment that Jim and Agnes were out of the country on a little couples-trip to Antigua to go scuba diving with Andrea and her family. 'It hasn't gotten to that point . None of you are Kali's type.'

'How do you know that?

'Because she likes to pick on the weak.' Beckett gave her family a wan smile. 'That sure as hell isn't us, is it?'

'Mumum, you said a bad word!' Jojo's eyes went round with the scandal of it. 'You can't say things like that around little kids, especially Petra! She is super little!'

'I think we'll let this one go,' Shane informed his pint-sized sister-in-law; he came over to ruffle her hair in the way that always charmed her out of a little snit and today was no exception. 'Why don't we go finish setting the table, give your mumum and daddy some privacy?'

The children agreed; Beckett watched them go with Shane and could only think of the families of those fourteen families, the families of Tyson McKinley and Louise Kingman and wonder how the hell they were going to get through this night. She took off her boots, dropped her purse onto the landing and was about to head upstairs when Castle came over to her. She loved him so much for knowing exactly what she needed - their children would be there first so Castle let them be there first, knowing the kind of comfort she needed from him was better given in a much more private setting.

Now he was here, holding her in place by simply covering her hand on the railing with his and looking deep into her sea-goddess eyes with his troubled dark blue ones. 'Kate, my love,' he murmured to her, 'how can I make it better?'

'Be there for me when I need you most.'

'Of course.'

Beckett walked down a step so she was at eye level with him and pressed a hard kiss to his mouth, oblivious to RJ and Jojo's noises of disgust. 'I love you so much, Richard,' she told him.

'I love you right back, Katherine Louise.'

Castle watched her head upstairs, keeping an eye on her through dinner all the while knowing she was making herself slow down and take time to enjoy her children's chatter, watching Alexis and Shane with their new little one who was just figuring out the magic of a smile. Everything made Petra smile, especially spending time with her auntie and uncle.

By the time the Weavers and Martha had gone home, and their own children were tucked into bed, Castle was sitting in bed in his boxers as he watched his wife strip to her underwear in short, jerky movements.

'Kate, how worried should I be about you? I know it isn't a normal case but is this like when we re-opened your mom's case with Adam or is it closer to the dating service as a front for human trafficking?'

'Somewhere in the middle. The number one killer here is time. As we speak, she's probably got her hooks into her next target and is taking pleasure in ending a life like a spoiled little brat pulling the wings off flies because she likes listening to them squeal in pain.'

'Kate.' Castle didn't bother disguising the plea in his voice. He knew when she sounded like this, it was time to help her just let it go for a little while. He flipped back the covers on her side of the bed, then pulled her close when she slipped into bed beside him. He turned out the lights, stroked her shoulder. 'Tell me what you need me to do for you. Whatever you need from me, I'll do it.'

'Take me away.' The words were out of her mouth before she understood herself how much she wanted to clear her mind to try and sleep as best as she could that night. 'Rich, take me away. I don't want to think anymore right now.'

'Of course, my love.'

Castle rolled them so she was in his arms and he was brutalizing her mouth with his; it wasn't his tenderness she wanted right now, though he knew it would be there when she did. She needed heat, his and hers together and what that brought them both. He reached behind her back, unclasped her bra which he tossed aside before pulling her panties down her hips. His hands stroked roughly over her body, making her shiver and shudder under his touch, until he slipped his fingertips between her thighs. He let them rest there, unmoving while he lowered his mouth to her breasts, teasing her nipples with the tip of his tongue, first one then the other. He felt her go wet against his hand, as he drove her mad.

Yes, was all Beckett could think; this was exactly what she needed, no chance for her brain to overwork itself worrying about the case, just the here and now of her husband making her crazy with need for him. She arched her hips against his hand, creating her own rhythm to pleasure herself against his fingers, but as the delicious friction built up in her body, his hand slid away. Beckett nearly protested with a full-on whine when quick as lightning Castle streaked down her body and was using his tongue on her honeypot, keeping his hands on the insides of her thighs so she stayed wide open for him. She moaned her appreciation for him loudly, one hand resting on the back of his head while the other lifted above her own to fist in the goose-down pillows. The orgasm all but blinded her when she came, releasing every drop of nervous energy left in her system.

'Rich, please, please,' she begged him shamelessly, and Castle positioned himself so he hovered above her entrance, eyes burning into hers.

'Say it, Kate.'

'Fuck me, Richard, fuck me hard.'

Castle crushed his lips against her, cupping her hips in his hands as he did so he could lift her and sink into her, setting a down and dirty pace that literally set their bed to squeaking. His tempo was hard, just as Beckett had asked him for, so that when he felt the orgasm flood through her once more, she was lost in her own pleasure; the look on her face stayed with him as he followed her into that decadent oblivion.


	15. Night of No Sleep

'Mumum.'

'Mm?'

'Mumum, get up. It's time for you to be a police officer.'

Beckett's eyes slitted open; it was still dark out and her clock read that it was just after five thirty, yet here was RJ in his pjs with his hair sticking up at right angles to his scalp and eyes wide like he'd been electrically powered. 'RJ, my prince, why are you awake so early?'

'I had to pee and I heard Daddy getting up to make you breakfast and I came in here to tell you it's wake-up time.'

'Alright. Then you're going back to bed. It's a teacher development day at school so you and your sister are hanging with Daddy.'

'He said we're going to baby-sit Petra so Alexis can go to the obstacle-tician to make sure her incision is all better from having Petra in such a scary way.'

Despite her initial reaction, Beckett was glad her son had come to wake her up - it gave her a distraction from the worry she knew she was going to face at work today. More, she was glad that the conversation with RJ had brought something up that would make her feel like a success as a mother instead of the shaky line she was walking as a cop right now.

'It's 'obstetrician' RJ and you know Alexis is just fine by now, we'd have seen the signs, right?'

'I know, but...but she's my big sister and I'm her bro, it's my job to worry about her,' RJ explained, gave a little floppy wave of his hand. 'Now I have a little niece too who needs me to help her out the same way.'

'I suppose you're right.'

'Is it weird that my niece is only a few years younger than my little sister?' RJ went on as Beckett got up, headed into the bathroom; the closed door didn't bother RJ anything much. 'Maybe when we're bigger some people might think we are all related or that Shane is her grand-papa.'

'There is that possibility.'

'No, no I don't think so,' RJ decided. 'Everyone one who matters knows that Shane and Alexis are very much in love and that Petra looks like them both. Also, Daddy says that I'm big enough to hold Petra and give her a bottle and so is Jojo, but I don't wanna mess her up.'

'RJ, when you were barely three years old you said the same thing about your little sister. Why are you so nervous about Petra?'

'Because I heard one of my teachers at school say that some kids have a scary birth-day when they are born and it means they aren't as smart are everyone else.'

He waited patiently while he heard the toilet flush, the running water before his mother came out of her private bathroom. 'Petra is very smart but we have to be careful so she doesn't hurt her head-'

'RJ, trust me, there would have been signs already if there was anything wrong with Petra. She has two doctors for a mumum and a daddy, right?'

'Right. Okay then.'

Beckett had to laugh - 'okay then' was one of RJ's favourite phrases whenever he was grudgingly agreeing with someone even if he didn't fully believe them. 'Why don't we go find Daddy and some breakfast.'

'No Jojo, though, she's still asleep.'

'Then we let her sleep.'

'Daddy!' RJ hollered when they were half way down the stairs to the main floor of the loft. 'Daddy, Mumum's up! She's up and she's hungry!'

Beckett smiled when she saw her husband's broad shoulders, then felt her stomach sink when he turned - and she was looking into Kali Wenthram's face.

'Morning, lover. Just making up some bacon. You hungry for Castle?'

Her eyes went wide as she saw the image on the packet and it was her husband's publicity shot from the latest Nikki Heat book. She felt her weapon in her hand, tossed it aside as she told RJ to run while she lunged for Kali - and sat up in her own bed, drenched in sweat as her heart pounded thunderously against her ribs. The scream was strangled in her throat and she fumbled for the glass of water on her bedside table, draining it in a single continuous gulp.

Slipping out quietly, she padded naked to the ensuite to splash some water on her face, scrubbing dampened palms over her skin. God, what a vicious nasty dream that was, she thought, trying to fight the urge to break down into uncontrollable tears. It was rare that she had nightmares anymore; solving her mother's case and putting those bastards out for good had meant sleeping that much easier for her.

Still, there were those cases since then that had crept in, that were extra nasty just to remind her that she still had a job to do. This was one of those times. Sighing, Beckett slipped on her robe and watched her husband sleep. He liked to sleep on his back; according to him it meant that he was trying to see the world at night and be inspired by the heavens. It had been one of the cheesiest lines she'd ever heard from him, until the first time they'd spent the weekend alone together at his house - their house - in the Hamptons and they'd been sitting on the sand watching the stars come up while drinking his beloved Chateauneuf de Pape in plastic beach-safe wineglasses. That was when she'd understood it best, understood how this man, the love of her life, saw the world and drank in its beauty.

Beckett crossed to him and kissed his brow, while a glance at the clock told her it was just past four. She'd have to be up in an hour anyways and since she knew trying to sleep anymore in that hour was a lost cause she headed downstairs to find some kind of comfort food, perhaps a bowl of the leftover beef and beans would hit the spot - RJ loved to make Mexican for his brother-in-law and sister whenever they came to dinner.

She headed downstairs, moved through the quiet and the dark to the fridge; Beckett grinned when she saw the note taped to the bowl wrapped in cling-film on the second shelf. _Mumum for you! No boys got to it! Jojo xoxo_. 'Thanks bumblebee,' she murmured and dumped the contents into a pot on the stove, added some of the chunky salsa Meredeth had left behind after their girls' night three days earlier. She grated cheese, found toasty points for dipping and when the whole hot mess was ready added sour cream when she put the beef and beans into a more appropriate bowl.

Beckett ate standing up, staring out at the city as she tried to think of the possibility that she would be called early because of another death. She'd seen the looks on the faces of the people Adam had interviewed, had seen Esposito and Ryan, Watkins and Geoffs, Toh, Avery, LeBlanc, all of the Twelfth Precint's homicide cops struggle against the windmill machine of Kali's antics, and could only pray that they would keep the score down. Newman was done, too, that much she was certain of. He was a great cop but this case was his Waterloo and even if they won Beckett doubted he'd have the emotional wherewithal to keep going once this was over and Kali was either dead or imprisoned for life.

Scraping the sides of her bowl, Becket polished off her snack, then dug her phone out of her pocket. She thought of texting Ryan or Esposito but they were at home with their children - children old enough to be aware of the situation because Ryan and Esposito were responsible parents who would have told their kids they needed to be extra-cautious of strangers right now. Beckett scrolled through her contacts list, came to someone she trusted as much as the two-headed monster.

'Brennan.'

'Adam, it's Kate. Can you meet me for coffee at Love on a Bun in forty-five minutes?'

'You have something?'

'No, I just want to talk. Cop to cop.'


	16. Early Morning of New Threads

When Beckett walked into the Chelsea diner, the air smelled invitingly of grilled bacon and onions, fresh cheap coffee and baking bread. The twenty-four-seven eatery was mostly empty but for two paramedics wolfing down their suppers while working the night shift and a woman in a Gable Manufacturing uniform equally hungry for the waffles the waitress set in front of her. She caught sight of Adam at a window table, perusing the menu with a glass of apple juice at his elbow.

'Thanks for meeting me, Adam,' she told him, walking over and sitting down across from him, and she saw he was already eating toast smearing with what looked a combination of peanut butter and blackberry preserves.

'You sounded stressed out, and considering everything you're doing for me and Lindsay,

'Doing for you?'

'Rick said yesterday that you guys are babysitting Zane and Petra on Friday night so Lindsay and Alexis and Shane and I can double-date to see the Rangers versus the Caps. Guess he didn't pass that memo along?'

'No, but knowing my husband he didn't want me to think about letting down my family in the event this case cracks like an egg.'

'I'm guessing that's why you called this little bacon and eggs conference?'

'Will Newman should not be in charge of this investigation,' Beckett blurted out, unsurprised by Adam's heavy sigh and nod of agreement. 'But that's not what bothers me. Karpowski's the captain and she only sees the rookie she brought up from his days in uniform She doesn't have the heart or the spine to side-line him.'

'Is that so bad, though? I mean, what's worse, a cop on the job with a vendetta or one who's no longer on our rules, our turf?'

'Both are worse than a man who isn't seeing things clearly because it's so personal.'

'You and I took things pretty fucking personally when we were investigating the Raglan homicide.'

'That was way different, on a number of levels, Adam.' Beckett smiled as the waitress came over with a glass of water for her, and she gave an order for a turkey club on wheat with green salad and coffee. Once the waitress was gone to ring in the order, she continued. 'Will Newman has no personal connections to this case, just what he's invested in the case on a personal level, you get me?'

'I get you but...'

'But?'

'Well, it's not common knowledge but there were some rumours going around during the initial case that Will Newman had been sleeping with one of the victims.'

This revelation hit Beckett like a freight train. She'd never heard that rumour at all, but she thought back to eleven years before and remembered that the case she'd been working around the same time had also been one of a personal nature - she and the two-headed Ry-Sposito monster had been called to investigate a probable suicide, where the victim had turned out to be Meredeth's biological father. She'd listened in to the aftermath of that one, when Karpowski and Newman had been wrapping things up for the DA's office. Newman wouldn't have been married then but he was certainly engaged to Daphne, and oh wouldn't that be a pisser if it were true?

'Which one?' she asked cautiously.

'Which one what? Which victim was he sleeping with?'

'Yes.'

'Victim number eight, Selena Quint. I asked Toh about it, he said the buzz was that things weren't too hot with Daphne so he was letting his dick wander to an empty parking space a couple times a month. Daphne travels a lot, being an airline stewardess so it was easy enough to manage when she couldn't be in touch because she was in the air. And there was also the fact when she turned up as one of the victims that Will was seriously broken up about it, like in a boyfriend kind of way.'

'Bastard,' Beckett breathed, never believing for one minute she'd have ever said something like that about her colleague. She thought she knew the man; hell, it was like thinking of Esposito straying from Meredeth or Lanie deciding to get weird behind Dave's back - ludicrous and laughable. 'Jesus, he needs to go into therapy, tell his wife he fucked around on her and that's the real reason he's got such a personal interest in this case. Kali probably coaxed it out of Selena before she killed her who she was banging and Kali being the treacherous bitch from hell she is found a way to use that.'

'Yeah, and how do you think Karpowski's going to react when we tell her the word down in Chinatown is her golden boy is a two-timing cheater and the reason he is a disloyal slug is also why he is losing his mind over this case?'

'Whoa, whoa, Adam, are you sure that's smart? Karpowski's got enough on her plate right now.'

'She has to know why her man isn't performing up to par.' Adam paused. 'That came out way more dirty than I meant it to.'

'I get what you mean, though. What if we go to her and it's just a rumour, or what if she already knows?'

'We're police, not mind readers.' Beckett leaned back as their breakfast was brought over - apparently Adam had ordered French toast with double bacon - she ignored the food initially and pulled the coffee cup closer to add milk and a dash of maple syrup to sweet it up. 'I couldn't sleep last night because all I can think of is Kali being able to get her hands on my kids. If something happened to RJ and Jojo, or any of our kids, what do you think those cops would do?'

'I don't think it's something we need to worry about - Kali makes it clear that she won't touch kids.'

'This is the same woman who dangled us as a false witness yesterday afternoon. How can we believe what she says?'

'Because when she makes a promise, good or bad, she keeps it She warned us all in that note she left on the first body that she would be starting round two.'

'That note also said she would leave our kids be if we left her alone to finish up her game.'

'A game is only a game if you have an opponent. Who is she playing against if she doesn't have the cops?'

'I don't know,' Beckett replied around a mouthful of turkey and lettuce, then really thought about what Adam had said. 'Though you do make an interesting point. Who does she play with?'

'How do you mean?'

'A woman like this would have to be adept at fitting in so it is unlikely that she is a social hermit. She has to be smooth in order for her schemes to work on her prey. So where would she go in order to work on that?'

'What are you thinking?'

'I'm thinking about that name she gave us at the crime scene, the alias of the girl who worked in the antique store.' And fuck did it ever give her chills to know that this..._thing_ - she couldn't call her a woman, put her in the same category as her mother, her daughters, her sisters and friends - knew who her father was. 'Laurel Turner, her name was. Why not do a run, see if that's not the name that she's been using to live clean and we have no cause to suspect Laurel Turner.'

'I was wondering about that break in the pattern. Thea and Melonga said that she'd used an alias with the same initials as Kali Wenthram at the lounge to get onto Chantal Russell's radar.' Adam stuffed in a huge bite of French toast, making Beckett wonder how he didn't choke on it. 'Kali always does things carefully, deliberately, she wouldn't break her own bad habits for no damn reason.'

'No, she wouldn't. So why risk talking to the cops? Kali's thrills come from the kill, the letting of blood.'

'Or maybe she's finally getting sloppy. Eat up, then time to go.'


	17. Pressure of the Case C

'What a bitch.'

The simply epithet came from Esposito, who was sitting on the corner of his desk while Ryan ran the name, crunched the data down like digital popcorn. He sat staring at Beckett and Adam, arms folded over his chest, as he listened to the ; the shine of wake-up sex with Meredeth had dulled to a distant memory already.

'Seriously,' he went on, 'she doesn't even deserve to breathe the same air as Castle, nevermind fry him up in a skillet like bacon.'

'I don't even wanna think about all the possible implications or interpretations of that dream, Kate,' Ryan added in sympathy, his eyes never leaving the screen. 'You feeling okay?'

'Not really,' she replied, 'but I'll feel better if we can find something, fucking _anything_, on Kali or Laurel or whoever she is.'

'You think the name she gave is her real name, or her legit front?'

'I think it's her real name.'

'Yeah?'

Beckett nodded. 'I think she'd never be able to resist giving us that. Laurel Turner, by a lot of accounts, isn't going to turn up in any kind of police database, not even a parking violation because she'd never risk getting onto the grid in a bad way.'

'What about being a do-gooder,' Esposito inquired, his wheels turning. 'Would she risk that?'

'Absolutely,' Adam jumped in. 'I saw it in Lindsay's dad.'

'How so?' Ryan asked.

'He was always getting his name into the paper for all the charity fundraising and awareness campaigns run through his church, especially on literacy and childhood education in developing nations. No one would ever suspect that he would be the kind of man to emotionally abuse his family in the name of religious piety, tell his daughter she was barely a human because she was female.'

'He becomes so popular and known for his outward kindness no one would suspect him of treating Lindsay like he did. Yeah, I buy that, like those Ken and Barbie killers up in Saint Catherines in ninety-three.'

'Bernardo and Homolka,' Beckett supplied absently. 'No one thought such a wholesome looking couple would be capable of three cold blooded murders. Kali certainly doesn't have that look about her, at least not naturally.'

'What if like Kali, the face is a put-on?'

'That's a huge assumption,' Esposito pointed out, then dug out a favourite phrase of his wife's. 'You start leaping to conclusions like that, you're gonna break something.'

'This case has to be run on assumptions,' Ryan pointed out. 'Or else we lose time.'

'We lose time too by having to back-track when an assumption is wrong.'

'Alright, for now we go with Laurel Turner, dig everything up on her. I wanna know everything there is to electronically know about her, pronto. Espo, a word.'

Beckett waited until her two favourite computer nerds had gone to do their thing before addressing him. 'Javier, I need you call Daphne Newman.'

'What?'

'Adam heard rumours going around that the reason Will took this case so hard was because he was fucking around on Daphne with one of the victims. I want you to call her, see if you can arrange a meet with her that Will doesn't know about. I don't like the feel of keeping things from him anymore than you do, but it has to be done. Use whatever pretext you need to, I'll square it with K-Pow so your ass is covered.'

'Jesus, Kate.' Esposito shook his head. 'Will Newman cheating on his wife? That's a new low.'

'Do it, and do it discreetly.'

Esposito nodded, watched his friend walk to their captain's office, then went to the men's room for a little privacy while he made this call. After a quick check of the stalls told him he was alone, he dialed the number, smiling as soon as he heard the young male voice on the phone.

'Hi Daddy's cell-phone!'

'Hey Max Power, what's shaking?'

'Ummm, Tortuga in the bath-tub! You need to talk to Mami?'

'I do buddy.'

'Oh, well, she is just washing her hands. We are making cookies for 'Allowe'en!'

Esposito grinned. Max loved being in the kitchen with Meredeth, as did all their other three children; he said it made him feel extra super-professor smart. 'She good to go now, bro?'

'Uh-huh! Love you Daddy!'

'Love you too.'

He heard the shuffle, Max's little voice very clearly telling Meredeth it was Daddy and she couldn't take too long otherwise the cookies would get all burn-y, followed up with Meredeth sexy throaty laugh. 'Apparently I'm on a timer,' she giggled when she came on the line. 'How is your morning going?'

'Sucky.'

'Already? You just got to work half an hour ago.'

'I have to go ask Daphne Newman what she knows about her husband's affair from eleven years ago.'

'Oh, baby.' Meredeth's tone was all sympathy. 'I'm so sorry, I know how much you like him.'

'I'm starting to wonder if Adam getting the bad apple label was more about office politics than anything else. From where I sit, Will's got a lot to explain with regards to his attitude towards this case.'

'Well, I'll be here with a couple of your favourite things when you're home tonight. Maybe, since it is Saturday after all, we can ship the kids off to your parents or Cam and Lili for the night.'

'No, I want them home,' Esposito replied, silently adding _home and safe,just like you. _'How about after the kids are in bed you just put on that sexy little pink baby-doll from our anniversary, skip the panties and we'll break out that new box of edible massage oils?'

'That sounds good too. What? Oh, okay. Max says you need an extra-special cheer-up supper tonight and then a movie night. How does that strike you?'

'I think I would love nothing more than to spend date-night with my Danish angel and our Fab Four. Oh, and I could really use a cookie.'

'Not to worry, babe, I got you covered. Love you.'

'Love you too.'

He hung up, then headed into the stall to do his thing as he thought about how he would approach things with Daphne Newman. She was an air stewardess for United Airlines, doing a lot of runs to the Caribbean and Hawai'i - he'd heard Will mention it plenty - and they had a son whose name Esposito couldn't remember. Just one, which struck him as a little odd because he remembered Will talking about having more. Perhaps something medical? Or was it more emotional than that? If what they discussed inevitably led to a divorce, Esposito knew he'd have to deal with the guilt of having delivered what could be a death blow to a happy home life.

Sighing, he washed his hands, left the men's room for his desk where he simply stared at his phone for a little while before pulling up Daphne's information and dialing her cellphone. For a moment, Espo wondered if she was in mid-flight, and felt relieved when she picked up.

'Hello?'

'Hi, this is Daphne Newman?'

'Yes, who is this?'

'It's Detective Esposito from-'

'Oh, Javi, hi, it came up as a blocked number. How is the case going?'

'Actually, that's why I'm calling, I...I've been asked by my superior officer to talk to you, alone, in order to get a handle on how Will is doing with this case off the clock.'

'Of course, I understand.' There was the sound of flipping pages, the thinking noises most people made to distract themselves while their brain clicked and whirred away. 'Is eleven-thirty this morning okay? I'll be at home, or we can meet around the corner from the apartment, there's a Real Brooklyn Bagel Company shop there.'

'Sounds great. I'll be bringing Ryan along.'

'Of course. Take care.'

Esposito hung up, blew out a breath he sucked in when his partner appeared out of nowhere over his shoulder and asked, 'What are you bringing Ryan along to?'

'Fuck me!'

'That's something you should only say to Meredeth, dude. Where are we going?'

'Consulting a possible character witness.'


	18. Desperate Need of a Shower

_Okay Crumbsians, this is definitely NSFW!_

* * *

As promised, Daphne Newman met them at the Real Brooklyn Bagel shop around the corner from her apartment. It was hard to miss a woman like Daphne Newman, as a six-foot redhead with piercing green eyes and a perfect porcelain complexion turned heads even in a town like New York. She was wearing jeans and a very cozy looking cardigan the colour of mango juice, and sat at a table with a cup of tea and the sandwich special of the day.

Such was the all-American wholesomeness of her look that Esposito felt like a dirty leper about to break her world apart.

Daphne looked up from her phone, smiled winningly at her lunch-time guests. 'Gentlemen, hello, good to see you again,' she said in her patent silk-smooth style that came from years of practice aboard passenger aircraft. 'Even, I suppose, given the circumstances. Would you like anything to eat?'

'Sandwich of the day and coffee,' Ryan amended.

'I'll put in the order. My treat, of course.'

'Seriously, bro?' Esposito hissed at his partner. 'You can eat when we're about to have _this_ conversation with her?'

'Daphne is probably just trying to put everyone at ease.'

'Alright, point but still-'

'Here we are.' Daphne brought over two cheap china mugs, set them down in front of the detectives. 'Cops and coffee, it's unavoidable. So...you want to talk to me about how Will is doing with this case?'

'Yeah, Daphne and we might need to touch on some things that you aren't going to be easy to hear,' Ryan warned her, saw the barest flicker in her eyes as he did so.

'Okay.' Calm, placid, Daphne linked her fingers together, set her folded hands on the counter-top. 'What do you need to know?'

'What can you remember about how he felt during the first set of murders?'

'Hard to say, because he found out with everyone else, in the aftermath of it all. Of course, what I didn't tell him was that I was very happy when he fell apart a little and that's a dark part of me I'm not always proud of. I can live with it, but coping and pride are two very different things.'

'I understand,' Esposito replied. 'Daphne, I- look there's no other way to say this. Did he show any of the victims' families special attention?'

'No, that's not it. Ask me your real question, Detective.'

So serene was her answer that Esposito blinked, jerked back. 'Excuse me?'

'We all know what your real question is, so ask it.'

'Did you know he was having an affair with one of the victims of Kali Wenthram's first killing spree?'

'Yes, I did. The wife always knows, no matter how careful the husband is. He was never a good liar and my being away made it easy for him to sleep with another woman.'

'You don't sound terribly upset,' Ryan commented.

'Well...' Daphne pursed her lips, sipped her drink. ' That would be rather hypocritical of me. He was out for a revenge sex to feel like a man again, since he was rightfully suspicious of me.'

'Who-'

'The time that got me busted was a clerk in the hotel where I stayed on layovers in L.A. from New York to Honolulu. He called me one night to say he was working late, and my hand hit the button on my phone to put it on speaker instead of silence. Poor bastard heard me screaming out for this other man to keep fucking me, and I didn't realize until after we'd both come that Will had heard the whole thing.'

Esposito felt his stomach lurch; he'd been seeing red after hearing Meredeth getting her toes licked by their beloved angel-puppy Arturo. He would have probably blacked out in devastated rage had he heard her making sex noises with another man. Worse, it was brutally difficult for him to accept how easy it was for Daphne to sit here, sipping tea and talk about sex outside her marriage as though she were talking about the latest headlines on CNN about war crimes in a third-world nation.

'Forgive me, Daphne, but how could you have been happy about hearing his lover was murdered?'

'Because then I could go back to having my own affairs guilt-free since I knew Will would never be able to get over the fact that the last time he saw her was after they'd finished their latest tryst in a cheap little motel and he told her it was over, that we were getting married. She told him to fuck off and die, according to Will.' Daphne gave a little laugh, drank more tea. 'Life is not without irony, it seems.'

'Would that connection have been enough to push him to act so erratically now that Kali's been released and she is killing people once more?

'Oh of course it would. He doesn't need her to guilt him into keeping his affair quiet, he has me for that. Any time he suspects me, all I do is bring up his murdered fuck-buddy and he shuts up to try and keep everything status quo for our son.'

'Is he Will's son?' Esposito blurted out before he could stop himself.

'Of course. I'm a slut but I'm not stupid,' Daphne said with just a tinge of condescension that made Esposito bristle. 'I love sex, and most of the time Will's not enough for me but I would never hurt him by passing off another man's child as his.'

'Is there any way you can think of that Kali Wenthram would be able to use your private affairs as ammunition against him?'

'Unless she's able to track my work cellphone, find my alternate email address and see the various nude photographs I've sent my lover, our cyber-sex chat history, and the stag-shop and lingerie orders I place, I doubt it. Even then, his quarrel would be with me, not with her.'

'Okay.' Ryan jotted it down, as the sinking feeling in his stomach kept on going down. 'I think we've gotten a clear picture of how things are at home for him.'

'Detectives, please don't misunderstand me. I love Will with all my heart. We have a great life together and I'm a great mother to our son, and Will's a great father too. I'm simply one of those people who just isn't meant to colour inside the lines when it comes to sexual fidelity.' Daphne gave a shrug, as if she were shrugging off not like to eat pasta or eggs. 'It's not something I consider a flaw, just a personality quirk.'

'Out of pure prurient curiosity,' Esposito piped up, 'How many lovers have you quirked?'

'Before or after we were married?'

'Since you started dating him.'

To his amazement, Daphne held up her fingers, began to tick them off. 'Four before our engagement, though three were only one-night stands and only one was here in town. And...six since we got married, four one-night stands, again, only one here in town.'

'Right. Thanks.'

Daphne took the remains of her sandwich just as Ryan and Esposito's were delivered to their table; Ryan swung around to the seat Daphne had just vacated, feeling more than a little shell-shocked himself. 'Well...wasn't expecting that for our consultation.'

'That bitch doesn't realize how much like Kali she is. I think this is the one time where I'd say that a man fucking around on his wife is understandable. Not acceptable just...shit, I can't imagine what it'd be like to hear another man inside my wife like that.' Esposito shook his head, and was suddenly reminded of when Meredeth had had a nightmare that she'd caught him in bed with Lanie, shortly after Tessi's birth. HE gave a violent shudder and made a note to bring her some flowers that night.

'Well, one thing is for certain,' Ryan said, turning doleful eyes to his partner. 'If his wife treats him like that over an affair with a dead woman so she can keep sleeping around, there is no way Will Newman is mentally fit to run this team.'


	19. Twist of the Knife

'Didididi!'

'Okay, chatty-man, put Mama back on.'

'Mamamama!'

Adam laughed as he heard his baby boy gurgling away cheerfully; Zane was such a happy baby, he had so few nights where he was actively fussy beyond the usual needs of a fresh nappie or a midnight snack. When Lindsay came back on the line, he grinned broadly. 'Our little man is a noisy one.'

'He was informing me of all the boy-stuff you two have to catch up on when you're home tonight.' Lindsay paused only a fraction. 'Any idea when that might be?'

'Haven't a clue, sweetie, I'm sorry. This is case is a real-'

'Mother, I know,' she finished for him. 'If you like, I can make that pizza you love, then pop it in whenever you get here. I'll have toast and cheese or something while I wait.'

'The homemade stuffed-crust, with the turkey pepperoni and green peppers?'

'That's the one.'

'I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you.'

'I love you too.'

'Yes and you too, Zane,' Adam added when he heard Zane burble 'lololololo' over the phone. 'Time to hit the streets again. Love you both.'

'We love you too.'

Adam hung up, turned back to the screen with his task - he'd culled everything he could, as per Beckett's instructions, about Laurel Turner and holy Christ, talk about a Jekyll and Hyde personality. Laurel had been born in Syracuse to John and Cynthia Turner and grown up in a small town area where she'd excelled in her high school's chemistry and art programs. Well, that made sense - Kali Wenthram liked to drug and tattoo her victims. Laurel had gone on to study chemistry with a minor in visual art at Rockefeller University, where, Adam noted, she'd taken part in a school play, a minor student produced piece where the name of her character was Krystal Walters, an assassin with a penchant for poison and tattoo design.

'Adam, what's the good word?'

He glanced up, saw Newman walking towards him; the instinct to bite and snap at him was strong. Those five words were more than he'd spoken to his partner than in the last three days put together, and here he was acting like there was nothing changed whatsoever.

'Partnership,' he replied, wondering if Newman would pick up on the subtlety of what it was he meant. 'Just finished talking to my wife, telling her I might be late tonight. She's a cop's wife through and through, loving, supportive, faithfully reliable.'

'That's good, it's good to have someone to keep you going.'

'How are things with Daphne?'

'Good. I wish she didn't have to leave tomorrow so early for work but she puts up with me being a cop so I suppose I should cut her some slack.'

Adam opened his mouth to ask how things were _really_ going, as he suspected Newman was currently a lying sack of shit when Newman's phone went off and Adam could tell right away from the look on his face they were going to be dealing with body number four. Questioning his partner on his home life would have to wait.

* * *

When Will Newman finally made it home after yet another draining day, he thanked God his son wasn't there. He loved Noah with all his heart but he needed a night off from Daddy; he wanted to get naked with Daphne, get a nice buzzing drunk on and tune the world out for a while.

'Daph?' he called out, wandering to the kitchen to see what there was in the fridge for mixing with the tequila he was craving like a man adrift at sea craved clean water. 'Daph, I'm home, you here?'

In response, he heard the groan and creak of the pipes, realized Daphne was in the bath; she loved baths, and Newman loved when she took them because they often put her in the mood for sex. Looking around the kitchen, he saw her purse on the counter, her personal cellphone and her work phone, the one she kept strictly for her bosses so she wouldn't have to run the risk of personal info on a company phone.

He left her things on the counter, headed for the kitchen cabinet where he kept the tumblers for booze when he heard the vibration of her phone. Turning, he saw it was her work phone; instinctively, Newman picked it up lest Daphne miss a call about a change of shift or flight.

He was suddenly glad he had left the glass in the cupboard as he picked up her phone to read the incoming message - Newman had anticipated seeing a quick note from her boss and was instead reading something that made all the colours of the room bleed together in a blurry, head-spinning swirl.

_Hey babe, glad to hear you're coming out to LA tomorrow. Give it a few hours, then you'll be coming in LA. Wear that yellow thong, I like when we fuck with you still wearing your g-string. _

Being a patient man, Newman sat waiting at the kitchen island with the red-cased phone in the middle of the faux-marble counter-top. During that time, he saw another incoming message, this time from a different number apparently in Hawai'i - _hey Daph, got your text. I've got fresh condoms and that new KY Sensations just for you. See you soon, sexy - _which made Newman nearly give in and smash the phone to the floor. But then, he'd have no proof to shove in his lying whore of a wife's face.

'Hey, honey.' Daphne smiled at him as she wandered into the kitchen in her robe, combing fingers through her wet hair. 'What's up?'

'You tell me.'

'I'm sorry?'

Newman held up her phone, wiggled it at her. 'You got a couple of messages while you were in the tub,' he said coldly.

'Oh, thanks.' Daphne took the phone, and Newman had the satisfaction of watching her face drain entirely of blood. Not because she'd done wrong, but because she'd been caught; he'd been a cop long enough to tell the difference on that score. 'Will-'

'Save it, you fucking dirt-bag slag,' he snapped. 'I asked you if you were done with this bullshit before we got married. You told me yes and like a fucking idiot I believed you. You've being lying to me the whole fucking time. How many men have you fucked while wearing my wedding ring?'

'I took it off before we had sex,' Daphne said coldly. 'I only leave it on for you.'

Newman's hand whipped out, bitch-slapping her with enough force that she stumbled back against the cupboards. When he saw her cry out in reflex, but never let a single tear fall, Newman felt his heart break clean in half. 'We're done, you slut. I hope every time you had another man's dick in you was worth throwing away what we had. Did you ever have one of your fuck buddies in this house?'

'Of course I did, I-'

Newman didn't hear the rest, as he'd walked outside and slammed the door behind him. He moved swiftly down East Thirty-First towards Fifth Avenue, his breath ragged and raw in his lungs. 'Bitch,' he muttered in a low voice; anything louder would have made his control crack and all he wanted was to get away. 'Two-timing bitch slut.'

'Hey, watch it.'

Newman looked up, saw the blonde woman in dark sunglasses and lambskin jacket recoil with a sneer on her face. 'Sorry. Bad day.'

'Looks like it. Feel like buying me some room service at my hotel room to apologize and tell me about it?'

'I...' Will looked her up and down. Hard to tell what kind of body she had in that jacket, but he could see the hint of her cleavage, envisioned breathing deep her skin's scent while he pushed himself inside her in nothing but pure revenge on his whore of a wife. A quick little bit to make himself feel better was exactly the ticket. 'I think that sounds great.'

Behind her sunglasses, Kali Wenthram's eyes glittered like ice under a new moon. 'I couldn't agree more.'


	20. Third Play of Round Two

'Javi?'

'Yeah.'

'I'm about two seconds away from stuffing your pillow down your throat if you can't stop those gears from grinding in your head.'

Meredeth lifted her head up off her pillow to glare at her husband. As she wasn't naturally a morning person by in the slightest, she considered it a great show of love for her sexy cop that she'd threatened to stuff his pillow down his throat and not up his ass. Turning to look at her iPod clock on her bedside table, she moaned in a way that it sounded more like a whine.

'Babe, I love you but it is barely four in the morning, why are you even awake?'

'Can't sleep.' Esposito drummed twitchy fingers on his belly, staring at the ceiling. 'Mere, you know that feeling I get when we're on a case-'

'The one when you've got a major case like this one and you can't sleep because you know as soon as you do there will be a call on your phone telling you there is another body to add to the file?'

'God I love you. Yes that one.'

'I love you too. And I know how hard it is for you to switch that off, so since you're awake already...'

Meredeth trailed off as she slipped off her panties, currently her only clothing aside from their sheets, and made a show of dropping them over the side of the bed. She rolled so she was straddling her husband who was already naked, leaned in to give him a kiss. 'Why don't we make the most of it?'

Esposito rolled them so he was sinking into his beautiful Meredeth's lush, curvy body, tasting her everywhere he could - her lips, the curve of her shoulder, the under-curve of her breasts, their centres, her stomach until his mouth found the juncture of her thighs. He reveled in her low moan of delight, felt her legs bend so one knee rested over his shoulder.

'Javi,' she moaned, 'mmm, I want it fast and dirty.'

'I know you do,' he replied, giving her honeypot one last slow trace with with his tongue. He rose on his knees, her leg still over his shoulder as he filled her. Esposito loved watching her eyes when he sank himself inside her, hearing that little 'oh!' she made every time. HE closed his eyes as he pounded himself into her, drinking in every cry of pleasure she made until he felt her tighten around him as she came; he followed her quickly, empyting himself into her and collapsing on top of her. His chest heaved like he'd run an uphill marathon, yet he somehow found enough energy to chuckle as his breath whistled like a teakettle against her throat.

'We're all tangled up, Mere.'

'Yep, we sure are.' Meredeth unlocked her legs from around him, let him slip out of her as his cellphone went off. 'Is that Ryan?'

'No, it's Avery.' Esposito hit the button on the screen to answer the call from one of the many uniforms of the Twelfth Precinct's homicide division, cleared the morning sex happiness from his voice. 'Esposito.'

Meredeth gave a happy little hum, thought about making them waffles for breakfast; the thought vanished when her husband sat up like a mummy. 'What? Where? Jesus fucking Christ on toast.'

'That's my line,' she murmured.

'Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can. Goddamn it Mere.' Esposito hung up, turned to look at her; the expression in his eyes had all humour vanishing.

'Javier, what's wrong?'

'Will Newman is dead.

* * *

The ride to the cheap but not seedy motel was a quick one for Esposito - normally he'd have used the gumball to clear his way across to the far eastern reaches of Alphabet City, but since it was almost four-thirty, he was ahead of the early morning delivery of food and newspaper trucks, and after the three-am glut of bakery trucks pumping in flour for fresh morning bread.

He parked on the sidewalk, saw Avery had already gotten a proper cordon up, saw Beckett was already there and knew Ryan wouldn't be far behind. Esposito had called Ryan himself and his partner had nixed him offering a ride since Esposito was already closer to the crime scene than he was.

He slammed out of the car, collar turned up against the chilly October wind that had suddenly kicked up; Esposito felt a small liver of dark delight as she returned his scowling glare that didn't quite reach her eyes.

'Detective Beckett, how much of a mess are we looking at?'

'A big fucking mess,' she replied bluntly; she turned and he followed her through the lobby to the single elevator. 'It's nasty, Javi, the bad kind of nasty.'

'As opposed to the good nasty I'd just finished with Meredeth when Avery called.'

'That makes two of us.'

'Funny, I didn't see you in my bedroom,' Esposito teased her, and Beckett cracked the smile she knew he was trying to coax out of her.

'RJ and Jojo were invited for a siblings night at Alexis and Shane's with the baby, so Castle and I had a little down-time for ourselves.'

Esposito shook his head; how many years later, and Beckett still referred to her hubby by his surname whenever she was pissed off. 'Where are we?' he asked as the door closed.

'Fourth floor. Espo, I've already been up there once and...well, just remember that Will Newman pissed off a lot of people in his personal life.'

As this wasn't news to Esposito, not since learning what he'd learned the previous day from Daphne Newman. Jesus, Daphne, what was going to happen to her now? He didn't think that she would be the kind to collapse into grief as he knew his own wife would, or any of his friends' spouses. Daphne struck him as the selfish type who would only think of how it affected her sex life.

'Kate,' he muttered as they stepped off the elevator, 'how are we gonna tell Adam about this?'

'Javi...' Beckett stopped him, turned to him before she went in. 'Adam was the first on scene.'

'What?'

'He was on-call last night and he...he go the call from Dispatch. He's the one who got Avery to call you and me.'

'What a ghastly fucking mess,' Esposito groaned. 'Alright, lead the way.'

He followed her into the hotel room, was instantly socked by the stench of fresh blood. Looking around the room, Esposito blew out a breath. Beckett was right - it was easy to see how Will Newman's death could be linked to his personal problems, but no one deserved to die like this.

Will Newman was buck naked and split open like a trout from his groin up to his clavicle, similar slits running down the length of his inner arms and thighs. But not a single drop of blood to be found. Esposito stepped closer to where Lanie was doing her official report, mouth set in a thin line to keep herself together.

'Is this Kali's work,' he asked quietly and Lanie nodded, picked up Newman's right wrist.

'Yeah, see that? Right above his own tattoo?'

Esposito tilted his head, saw the new set of Roman numerals. 'Her work?'

'Yep, a break in pattern but more about giving you the finger.'

'What is it?'

Lanie fought to keep her eyes from rolling, pointed to them one at a time. 'Two-zero-eight-seven. That's Will's badge number.'

'Shit.' Esposito swore lightly, turned away momentarily to see Adam sitting down in one of the room's chairs, his face ashen and tight with anger. Not grief, he noted; perhaps that would come later. He walked over to talk to his friend, kneeling down so they were eye-level. 'You doing alright?'

'I don't know what to think,' he replied in a low voice. 'I thought I knew him. Then I start to hear things about him on this case and I don't have a chance to ask my partner about it because he's barely spoken to me since we pulled this case.'

'We'll get her, Adam. For this and every single person she's made feel this way.'


	21. Itch of Inconsistency

'What do you need from me, bro?'

Adam looked at Esposito, thinking how easy it would have been not so very long ago to brush him off and tell him not to worry. But times were different now, he'd grown and knew that needing people and being needy were two very different things. He dragged his hands over his face, heaved a sigh. 'I have to go tell Daphne before word of this gets out.'

'I'll come with you.'

'Espo, I-'

'Detective Brennan.' Beckett came over, that loving maternal light in her eyes that reminded Adam why he loved her like the sister he never had. 'I need you to go with Detective Esposito and inform next of kin. We will need Daphne to do the official confirmation of identification at the morgue.'

'Christ.' Adam shook his head. 'I...how do I tell her?'

'We'll get through it,' Esposito reassured him. He slapped his knee, then rose from his crouch as he gestured to Beckett to draw her attention away from him. When they were far enough away from Adam, he spoke in a low voice. 'Beckett, you sure you want us to go? You're the primary on this with Will.'

'Daphne is a cop's wife, she will want to know the head of the investigation is looking for the killer, and she'll probably take the news a lot better coming from Adam than me. She's never really liked me anyways.'

'I get the feeling she gets along better with men anyways,' Esposito agreed. 'Alright, we'll talk to her. Detective Brenna, let's roll.'

* * *

The trip to Newman's home was a short one, but they took the car nonetheless, as they'd need to take Daphne with them to see Lanie. Getting out of the car, walking up the short stairs to the modest brownstone town-house felt like a trip to the gallows for Adam, and clearly Esposito was feeling the same way.

'Dude, you can do this,' he told him, and Adam nodded.

'I'm gonna need a fucking huge drink later.'

'I talked to Meredeth, she's inviting everyone over for a barbecue once this case is wrapped.'

'Right. Here we go.'

Adam lifted a heavy hand, clapped the ornamental knocker and waited. After what felt like an eternity, Daphne opened the door, sighed in annoyance when she saw Esposito again.

'Detective Esposito, I have nothing more to say about my husband's state of mind at the moment. We had an argument last night and he didn't come home. I doubt he'd appreciate you being here when he does get here, questioning me like some criminal.'

'Daphne, we need to speak with you. Inside,' Adam added, emphasizing the last word in futile hope that she would catch on this wasn't a routine call. 'It's important.'

'With cops it always is. Come back later, I'm busy now.'

When she actually started to shut the door in their faces, Esposito braced his hand to keep her from doing so entirely. 'Daphne, we have to talk to you inside.'

'Fine,' she snapped, then turned on her heel and stalked back to the kitchen. 'I suppose you want coffee too, right?'

'Daphne.' Out of patience with this spoiled princess routine, one Adam knew Daphne to be very adept at performing, he yanked a chair out and pointed at it. 'Sit down.'

'Don't you fucking tell me what to do, Brennan,' she retorted. 'Just ask me your damn questions and get the hell out of my house.'

_Fuck this_, Esposito thought and stepped forward. 'Daphne, Will was murdered by Kali Wenthram last night.'

'Is that name supposed to mean something to me?'

'Daphne, did you not hear what he said?' Adam stared at her in disbelief. 'Will was murdered last night. He is dead.'

'No, he's just pissed off at me,' Daphne snorted. 'He's been ignoring his phone all night because he was probably balls-deep in some hooker he found in a bar after he walked out on me.'

'Daphne, I saw him with my own eyes. He was murdered, he had his throat slashed and he was cut up.'

'You're wrong.'

Her eyes began to dart back and forth, chin trembling in temper; it was the first real emotion Esposito had seen from her since she'd opened her door. 'Daphne, we need you to come with us to the morgue, to confirm that it's Will.'

'No.'

'No?' Adam repeated incredulously.

'No, I'm not going, because all it will do is make you look stupid when I tell you that whoever you have on your slab isn't him.'

'Daphne, this is gonna go one of two ways.' Esposito tapped at the handcuff case on his belt. 'Either you come with us co-operatively to make the ID or we arrest you for obstruction, you get a wrap-sheet and you still have to make the ID. Your choice.'

'Cannot believe you are being this ridiculous.' Daphne grabbed her coat off the rack by the kitchen door, yanked it on in jerky movements. 'I hope you know I'll be filing a complaint abut harassment with Captain Karpowski over your behaviour towards me.'

Adam wanted to tell her to file all the complaints she wanted, but held his tongue - he knew she'd have a whole different attitude when she saw her husband in Lanie's autopsy theatre. To occupy himself while Esposito dealt with the spitting-nails-angry widow who didn't realize she was such, he texted Lanie, knowing that she'd hear the incoming on her AudioVox system as she performed the autopsy.

_Daphne is coming in, she is in severe denial so be prepared_.

The trio sat in total silence on their way to the morgue; only when they reached the elevator and were on their way up to see Lanie did Daphne speak again.

'I hope you know how wrong you are, and how much you'll pay for it.'

Adam opened his mouth to reply with some non-committal noise, then caught Esposito's warning glare and promptly shut up once more. They lapsed into silence again until they reached Lanie's theatre and shoved open the door.

The scream that Daphne let out was worthy of a Hitchcock movie, hands raised to her face as her fingers tried to curl into fists - Lanie was in the middle of removing Will's heart for examination, his chest wide open with rib spreads. Thankfully she hadn't gotten to the cranium examination or removing the intestines.

'No! No, what are you doing, you bitch! How dare you!' Daphne screamed at Lanie; she was across the room in four strides, and Adam was very thankful Lanie had the reflexes of a cat - she'd managed to drop the heart into a metal bowl and strip her gloves off in order to brace for Daphne's assault. The woman lashed out at the doctor, slapping with the force of furious adrenaline. 'You bitch, you bitch, you bitch!'

'Daphne, is this Will?'

'Of course it is, you blind fucking moron!' She whirled on Adam and Esposito. 'You bastards, you knew that I would see him like this, didn't you?'

'No, Daphne, we didn't I promise you,' Adam replied in an impassioned tone.

'Liar!'

Now she was across the room, ready to throttle Adam but Esposito intervened in the nick of time and caught her in time, unsurprised when she dissolved into tears and sank to the floor as the grief began to consume her.

When she'd recovered enough that the two detectives were able to escort her from the room, Adam couldn't help feel a little twitch in the back of his brain. Something about this was all wrong, he thought. There was something else at work here, something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

But what the fuck was it?

They managed to escort Daphne into the modest visitors lounge, where Esposito took a seat across from her.

'Daphne, we have strong reason to believe that Will was murdered by Kali Wenthram,' he told her gently. 'The ME gives the time of death between eleven and midnight last night. You said you had a fight?'

'Yeah.'

'Okay, we need to know what the two of you did up to the time he left the house.'


	22. Pressure of the Case D

'We didn't see each other for very long,' Daphne began, her voice hoarse and scratching. She coughed a little, pointed at the vending machine. 'Can I get a drink?'

'Of course.'

Esposito rose, leaving Adam to speak to Daphne. 'What time did he arrive home?'

'Just after nine. He'd told me he was going to be late, and I'd already sent our son off to a friend's house for the night. I was in the bathtub when he arrived home. I was listening to my iPod in the bubbles.'

Lindsay did the same thing, Adam thought, and what a world of difference it made when you considered the source. 'So you were able to see the time?'

'Yeah. I don't remember how long it took me in there, maybe twenty, thirty minutes. Thank you.' Daphne accepted the bottle of ginger-ale Esposito had produced from the vending machine, twisted off the cap and drank deeply to ease her throat. 'When I went downstairs, he...he was sitting at the kitchen island, and he looked really pissed off, and...'

'He found out about your affair with the guy in LA?' Esposito ventured, and Adam's head whipped around as Daphne nodded in guilt and shame.

'Yes he read a text that left little room for interpretation as to the kind of relationship we have. We argued, he hit me, which I knew he didn't mean, he just needed to lash out at someone like I did when I saw Lanie...when I saw Lanie with him just now.'

'He hit you.'

'Yeah, he slapped me after I told him that I never wore my wedding ring when I had sex with other men.'

Esposito looked at her face, saw there was only redness there, no bruising so there couldn't have been a lot of heat behind it. 'That's not something a man wants to hear, Daphne.'

'It was honest and I knew it would have been worse to lie to him in that moment. Anyways, he stormed out after I also admitted that I'd had men back to our house when he wasn't there. I didn't bother trying to call him yet because I knew he would want to speak to me face to face.'

'Daphne, I had to ask, you were already awake and dressed and showered when we came to see you.'

'Yes, I was ending a Skype call in Berlin with other stewardesses to organize our timetables for a conference coming up in Hamburg at the end of next week. Of course, now it looks like I'll miss out on that.'

Esposito caught the note of annoyance in her voice, slid his eyes to Adam, who gave a miniscule shake of the head. 'Can you think of any way Kali would have been able to get to Will? It seems unlikely she'd have just bumped into him. She has to know his connection to the case.'

'I'm sorry, who?'

Adam sighed. Whatever game Daphne was playing was working - he was pissed off and talking to her was only making that nagging feeling in his brain grow. He felt a minimal bit of relief when his phone went off and he saw Ryan's number on the display screen. 'Excuse me, I have to take this.'

'Sure, sure.'

Esposito gave him a subtle nod, and Adam retreated to the hallway. 'Ryan, you got anything?'

'Beckett's pissed. Another body dropped.'

'Fuck me.'

'I'd rather leave that to Lindsay.'

Adam school his head. 'Do we have an ID?'

'Woman's name is Farrah Thurman, thirty-five, a baker from Tudor City. That's a total of four now, so I'm here to tell you that you'll need to crack open Will's electronic history with that techno-voodoo thing you do. Karpowski's talking to Montgomery and the Chief and City Hall, and how the hell she is still on her feet I'm not entirely sure.'

'Do me a favour, Ry, are you pulling the warrants for Will's stuff?'

'No warrant needed, he's in the victim column now.'

'Why don't you do your warrant tap dance with Fuqua and see if you can subpoena the wife's electronic records too.'

'You smelling something,' Ryan stated calmly, his cop curiosity flashing away like Time Square in his brain.

'She's off, Ryan, I can feel it in my bones, and I don't think it's just here acting like Jersey Whore Barbie either. I...' Adam trailed off, unsure how to put his suspicions into words when he himself didn't even know what they were. 'I'd owe you one for sure.'

'I don't think this is a case where we keep score, bro. You've got good instincts, and we need that on this case. Gotta go, Karpowski's back and so is Beckett.'

'Right. Call when you have something.'

Adam hung up and for a moment, just took a breath as he tried to sort his head out. Fuck it, he decided, Esposito knew how to handle a next-of-kin, and called home. Lindsay picked up; he could tell he'd woken her up and loathed himeslf a little for putting that worry he heard automatically into her voice.

'Adam, what is it, baby, what's wrong?'

'I'm fine LInds, I just...I just need to hear your voice, I'm so sorry for waking you up. Yell at me all you want.'

'Well if you're gonna make it that easy on me...' Lindsay yawned, and Adam heard the rustle of her sheets. 'It's not very much fun.'

'Lindsay, the body I got called to this morning, it...it was my partner.'

'Will? Oh, no, oh honey. Adam, I'm so sorry my love.'

'Thanks, sweetheart. His wife is a fishy bitch.'

'You think she's involved, don't you?'

There was no fooling his lady, Adam without with a little smile. 'One way or another, yeah.'

'And you'll find her, you gonna get her, get her, get her?'

'Musical as she is pretty.'

'Okay, well I'm going back to bed now my love, because Zane will be up in- oh man, an hour and a half and I need those ninety minutes to stay horizontal.'

'When I get home, we're both going to be horizontal and very naked and loud.'

'How loud?'

'I'm thinking it might be time to ask Sloan and Jeremy to cash in that favour and take Zane for the night so we can have some very soul-cleansing sex.'

'Ooo, Mama likes the idea of that. And I might even have a little lingerie saved up for that very occasion.'

'Sya no more, or I'll wanna come home now.'

'Adam, you've been at work for nearly twenty-four hours now, won't they understand if you need to take some time? On top of which, sweetie, how are you even awake?' Lindsay could feel herself slipping into her doctor's skin without even trying. 'You're gonna hurt yourself or worse, someone else because you can't function properly.'

'I know, I know, but...it's Will. He took me on after I was reinstated and our captain, Karpowski, she brought Will up through the ranks at Homicide in the Twelfth herself. I cannot in good conscience say, sorry you're on your own for this one.'

'I know that too. But...'

'But?'

Lindsay fought not to sigh. 'Adam, if she says go home or hit the crib and take a few hours down, promise me you'll listen, okay?'

'I promise. I love you.'

'I love you too.'

Adam hung up, entered the room to see Daphne sitting with her face her in her hands and Esposito making soothing noises; the detective glanced up and raised an eyebrow. 'Who was it, Brennan?'

'Ryan.'

'And?'

'And...' Adam trailed off, gave Daphne a pointed look. 'How is she doing?'

Understanding this was not really the question being asked, as Adam rarely asked a stupid question, Esposito moved away from her so he could speak as privately as possible to his fellow detective. 'What's up?'

'Ryan said another body was found. I've asked him for a favour and if he pulls it off, I need to work the results because they may give us the key to cracking Kali.'


	23. Thinking of You A

_Sometimes you just need a sweet little something to make you smile. **Ttayababy** this is for you._

* * *

When Tessi awoke on Saturday morning, she wrinkled her nose at he sight that greeted her - Tortuga was staring her in the face, bright green plastic treaty ball in her mouth.

'Hello baby!' Tessi crooned sleepily, reached out to stroke one of her dog's silky black ears. 'Did my mami feed you this morning? Huh? I bet she did, otherwise you wouldn't be asking me for treats!'

Tortuga's radar clearly went off when she heard the word 'treats' and generously dropped her ball by Tessi's elbow before sitting down like the pretty-princess puppy she knew she was. The move had Tessi rolling her eyes as she sat up.

'Aright, I guess that serves me right. Let's go find something for you and me.'

Tessi yawned again as she found her bathrobe, padded downstairs barefoot; she'd smelled the yummy weekend-breakfast smells before she'd started to the main floor and wasn't at all surprised to see her mother making pancakes. All her siblings were lined up at the island, picking out their ingredient add in of choice. 'Why am I always the last one up?' she asked. 'It makes me feel left out.'

'Be-cause you are the biggest so you need the mos' sleep,' Max replied, then held out the jar of chocolate chips to her. 'Have some chocolate chippies! They always make Daddy feel better, he loves chocolate-'

'And so does Tessi-boo!' Trini beamed, and her siblings giggled. 'Tessi and Max are like Daddy and me and Leo are like Mami!'

'Si-si-si,' Max chirped, then frowned. 'Wait, how am I like Daddy?'

'Because you like puzzles and knowing all the answers when you ask a question. Daddy does the same, that's why he's a detective. Mami does too but in a different way, just like Tessi and Leo, they like to enjoy the solving of the puzzle, that's why they like Tetris and Zentomino.'

'Exactly, twin,' Leo agreed, picked out coconut for his pancakes and the strawberry syrup. 'Mami, Daddy hasn't been home very much lately. Is he working on a very big and important case?'

'Yeah, he is, someone who was bad went to jail and they got out and started being bad again,' Meredeth replied, eying the sizzle on the griddle for the pancake batter.

'Well that wasn't too bright, didn't they learn anything on their time-out in jail,' Tessi commented, making Max giggle.

'I 'pose not, Tessi.'

'Leo, stop hogging the coconut!'

'But I like it.'

'So do I!'

'Me too!' Max jumped in.

'No, you don't, Max.'

'Yes he does, but not as much as me and it's gonna be all gone!' Trini's voice rose shrilly, and Meredeth, knowing her son well, saw Leo's hackles go up so she intervened the best way she knew how.

'Guys if you fight now that means no surprise later.'

The word had its magical effect on all four children, even Tessi who'd managed to stay out of the melee. The coconut was forgotten and they all looked eagerly at Meredeth, appalled at the idea of missing out on something fun because they were being boneheads.

'No!' Max howled in such a comical way that the others giggled. 'No missing out! We'll be good! I'll have peanut-butter chips instead of coconut.'

He went over, gave his brother a manly little hug, then gave his mother a satisfied nod. 'We're buddies Mami, see? All good!'

'Me too twin!' As Max still had a hold on Leo, Trini wrapped her arms around her brother from the other side. 'I know you love coconut pancakes.'

'Jeez, guys, it's just breakfast fixings, it's not like when you dropped Daddy's eye-telephone in the bathtub by accident.' But Tessi relented and wrapped her arms around all three of of her siblings. 'Alright, alright, it's one big love-fest. Now what's the surprise?'

'Well, I figured since we're all here today and it's a Saturday, we might have a few people over for a baking day.'

'Dell and Mally?' Tessi's heart fluttered in her chest. 'Maybe RJ and Jojo, and Devon and Nate too?'

'Dell and Mally, yes but no to the others. Sorry, Hurricane Trini,' Meredeth added, genuinely sad when she saw the slump of Trini's shoulders, 'but we do have a special guest of honour coming. His name starts with a Z.'

'Zane!' Leo roared in delight, living up to his Leo-Lion nickname. 'Zane is coming! And Lindsay too?'

'And Lindsay too, and there is another part to that surprise too.'

'What is it?' the children all chorused; when Meredeth told them ,their eyes went wide with delight.

'Oh, that's a good surprise for Miss Doctor Lindsay.' Max nodded so vigorously his glasses slipped down his nose and he had to adjust them. 'Oof, pancakes are good to eat, but not these guys!'

'Exactly, Max,' Meredeth agreed, and ladled out ten pancakes onto the griddle. 'Who's up first?'

* * *

'Mami! Mami they are here!'

'Easy, Leo, you're gonna get Tortuga all stirred up!'

'She's upstairs with the girls.' Leo all but pressed his nose to the window as he saw Lindsay and Zane slow in front of their house, Lindsay making sure Zane didn't drop the toy in his little hand. He waited with baited breath for the knock on the door, then raced to the foyer as he watched Meredeth welcome in their guests.

'Hello Doctor Mami Lindsay! Hi Zane! Are you guys ready for a baking day?'

'Hi, Leo,' Lindsay laughed, touched at the boy's enthusiasm to see them. 'You're awfully excited today.'

'Well, it's a baking day and Zane gets to join in!'

'Bibibibi,' Zane gurgled, grabbing at his toes and sending Leo a cheerful baby grin. 'Mamama?'

'Mami is staying and we are gonna hang out today with my sisters and brother and my sister's sweetheart and my other sister's best-est girl-buddy are all coming today!' Leo reached out a gentle hand and patted Zane's tummy which made the infant gurgle in delight. 'And we are gonna make some brownies and tasty treats for our daddy and your daddy and nice Mister Detective Ryan too!'

'Adam does love brownies,' Lindsay agreed after giving Meredeth a hug. 'Thanks for the invite, Mere, it means a lot to me.'

'You may not have been a cop's wife long but you're part of our family as much as the rest of us. I learned within about a week of dating my cop the way to keep him going on the job was tasty snacks.'

'Adam and I love to be in the kitchen together, but he especially likes when I make desserts so when you said baking day I...I'm rambling.'

Meredeth grinned, watched Leo gently unbuckle Zane from his stroller. 'Careful, big guy. Linds, it's okay to ramble. Our men have a big case on their minds and our job as their ever-loving wives is to remind them why what they do is important when things get rough.'

'And we're doing that with baked goods?'

'Sugar from their sugar. Just you wait, you'll see how much he didn't realize he needs this.'

Lindsay smiled, then blinked in surprise when she saw Leo cradling little Zane in his lap as he sat on the stairs. 'Leo-Lion, you took Zane out of his stroller all on your own?'

'Uh-huh, and I made sure I helped him hold his head up and now we're chilling. Guys!' Leo glanced up the stairs where he'd heard his siblings emerge from Tessi's room. 'Careful coming downstairs! I've got baby Zane with me!'

'Okay Leo!' Tessi let Trini and Max go first, then gripped Tortuga's collar tightly. 'You listen to me, bird-brain, you are gonna play nicely with our little friend, okay?'

Tortuga responded with licking Tessi's cheek and slinking downstairs as her young mistress kept a firm hold on her. When they all reached the bottom of the stairs, the dog sniffed at Zane's head, then sneezed before trotting away to find her toys.

'Well, that's one zoo animal taken care of,' Meredeth laughed. 'Now the others can help us get our Betty Crocker on.'


	24. Thinking of You B

'See Zane, watch. Trini's gonna stir the cocoa into the flour and sugar and that will make the brownie batter taste all yummy and chocolatey!'

Leo pointed to his twin who was stirring the dry ingredients for brownie batter at the kitchen table, while Leo sat beside Zane's high-chair, giving him a running commentary of all the activity happening in the kitchen. Whether or not Zane really knew what he was talking about, Leo suspected that the sound of his voice was making him feel part of things.

'She's gonna add the wet stuff, that means like the eggs and the veggie oil and milk so the brownies come out nice and yummy.'

'Mamamamama!' Zane slammed his palms into the tray of his high chair, burbling merrily. 'Mamamam?'

'Mami's right over there, big man.' Leo pointed to where Lindsay was sitting at the island with Meredeth, keeping an eye on the other chefs in the kitchen.

'Bibibibi!'

'She is the best mami? I don't know, mine's pretty cool.'

'Leo, are you sure you don't want to join us, buddy?' Lindsay offered, unsettled at how Leo was just talking to her little boy. Before Leo could reply, Max piped up to answer for him.

'Oh, yes Miss Doctor Lindsay, Leo doesn't like to be in the kitchen very much so he makes others feel special and part of things.'

'I like being in the kitchen I just don't like to bake,' Leo clarified, and Trini giggled.

'He is our official taster! He knows a lot of different tastes and flavours, so he is in charge of that.'

'And he offers to help us by tidying up!' Max adding, then frowned. 'Tessi, is this right? It doesn't look right.'

'Yes, it is, Max Power.'

'But the recipe says the frosting has Earl Grey tea in it and this doesn't look like tea, it looks like dirty milk.'

Tessi looked over, shook her head. 'That's right Max, it'll look right once we get it whipped up.'

'Oh. Mami! It's whipping time!'

Before Meredeth could reply, the doorbell went off which sent Tortuga into a fit of joyful barking; when she answered the door, she smiled at seeing Dell and Mallory on the other side with Honey-Milk. 'Hey guys come on in!'

'I brought something special for my Tessi.' Dell's cheeks went the shade of pink roses. 'We were having a book-sale at school and I thought of her when I saw it.'

'Hi Dell!' Tessi bellowed from the kitchen. 'Come on in, wash your hands! We're gonna start soon!'

'Not without me!' Mallory very nearly howled it as she toed off her shoes, zipped into the kitchen, looked around at the goings on of the bakers. She raced over to Lindsay gave her a big hug and kiss. 'Hi Miss Doctor Lindsay! Are you making something for your wonderful copper hubby?'

'Uh-'

'My daddy, he loves candy-coated beer-nut cookies, they are like peanut cookies but better. And Dell, he has to have special stuff made because he has diabetes, so he can't eat sugary things. Max, you're not making breakfast pancakes cupcakes again?'

'No, Mally, no maple-bacon candy crunchy bits on top of the cupcakes this time!' Max promised her as Meredeth returned to the kitchen with Honey-Milk; he pushed his glasses up his nose, nodded seriously. 'Mallory is a veggie-saurus, Miss Lindsay.'

'I remember,' Lindsay laughed, glanced at Meredeth and Honey-Milk. 'Are the get-togethers usually this animated?'

'Pretty much,' Honey-Milk replied with a grin, saw Dell trying to keep his cool while Tessi finished kneading some kind of sticky dough with her bare hands. 'Tessi, whatcha making?'

'Stollen! Mami said that Lin- er Miss Lindsay said it is Detective Adam's favourite baked snack so I am punching the dough. That sounds means but that really means just letting the air out.'

'Like the floaty-toys on the beach or when our tummies feel better after we fart when Mami makes black-bean burritos?' Max inquired innocently, and Trini hooted with giggles.

'Ew, Max! That's gross!'

'You're right about the floaty toys, though, Max,' Tessi reassured her brother. 'And it does look like we have everyone here! That means Cupcake Wars can begin! What are we playing for today, Mami?'

'We are competing today for the prize of who gets to be Lindsay's guest when she takes the cookies to the coppers at the station,' Meredeth announced and all the kids gasped. 'Yes, yes, and if the runner up is a guest, they get to hang here while we let Zane have a sleepover tonight, so we can let Lindsay and Adam have a night just for them.

Dell snickered; he was in grade seven, he knew exactly what a boy and girl wanting alone time together meant. He slid his eyes to Tessi, thought of how they spent their alone time - cookies and cards, and the occasional scary movie that let him cuddle her close to be her big brave protector. Still, now was not the time to think of such things, not when there was a chance to see his dad in action. He thought of his sugar-free brownies, thought of all the others and their stuff.

His dad loved his sugar-free brownies.

* * *

'You gotta be fucking kidding me, you pulled it off?'

Ryan sat in his chair, swiveling lightly back and forth as Adam stared open-mouthed at him. 'I did.'

'How many sexual favours did you hand out to get it?'

'Not a one, unless the foul language coming out of Fuqua's mouth as she stormed around her office counts as dirty talk,' he deadpanned, making Adam snort. 'We are now waiting for confirmation from the bank and telephone companies that transcripts all calls since one week prior to the first murder are on their way over to us.'

'Great.'

'Hey, you got a minute?'

Ryan stopped swiveling, saw Julian the receiving officer standing a few feet away from his desk. 'Hey, just a few. Why?'

'There is a pretty little blonde looking for you Ran and a hot brunette for you Brennan.'

'Ooo, now it's time for the sexual favours,' Adam teased him, and Ryan had the satisfaction of flipping him off before following Julian out to the lobby area. It was unusual for his wife to come and visit him at work - as she often pointed out to him, he didn't pop by on the pediatric floor to see how her temperature checks and requests for fresh IVs or potty breaks went. Curiosity piqued, he didn't think of what to say until he was in the lobby and grinning at his other favourite pretty little blonde.

'Daddy!' Mallory flew towards her father, inadvertently bumping his back with her totebag while Adam kissed his wife hello. 'Mmm, hi Daddy! Lindsay thought Officer Julian might be coming back to tell us you'd gone to find the bad girl on the streets!'

'Nah, we're looking at her computer stuff right now, seeing if we can find out where she is going.' Ryan flicked his fingertip down his daughter's nose. 'I think you've come by to visit me with a treat?'

'Uh-huh!' Mallory set down her bag, opened it up with all the care of the OCME crew opening their field kits. She pulled out a Tupperware container and passed it to him. 'Open up!'

Ryan obliged her, and nearly wanted to cry. The scents of sugar and cream and cake hit him like a freight train; after hours of coffee that was starting to taste funny civilian homemade pastries were a God-send. Or, rather, a Meredeth-send; he recognized the wrappers on the cupcakes as being her preferred neon colour-coded brand. 'Mallory, these look good enough to eat.'

'That's what they're for,' Mallory giggled, pointed proudly. 'We can't stay long, we are going to get prettied up on a girls' day out!'

'I like the sound of that,' Adam murmured to Lindsay, giving her a little wink. 'Stay safe, okay? I mean it.'

Lindsay put her hand to her husband's cheek. He was so tired, so tired from this case and from being scared they might not be able to protect their loved ones. 'We sure will.'


	25. Multiple Faces of Evil

'I don't like this position but I have to ask. Are we any closer?'

Esposito nodded as he stood in front of Karpowski's desk, gave her his updated report. 'Sir, Riley Fontina is currently pulling as much external data as he can on her Internet life-'

He was cut off when the captain's desk phone rang, and she subtly dismissed him, leaving Esposito to wander out; when he did so his nose immediately caught a very familiar scent and he honed in on the cluster at Ryan's desk.

'You greedy bastards!'

Esposito's eyes went wide when he saw the Tupperware box on his partner's desk, recognized his wife's baking in both Ryan and Adam's sticky little fingers straight away. 'You didn't tell me my wife was by with treats?'

'Actually, it was my wife,' Adam mumbled around a mouthful of butter-cake. 'Apparently she and Mally won some kind of cupcake contest and they got to bring by the snacks.'

'Oh, it was Cupcake War day. Those are always a good day at Casa Esposito. Who was the winner?'

'Mallory's Marshmellow Dreams,' Ryan replied. 'Chocolate cupcakes with peanut-butter marshmellow fudge frosting.'

'Tell him what you pulled off,' Adam told Ryan, pointing at Esposito before licking red-berry compote off his fingers. Damn, his wife made good cupcakes.

'I got a judge to sign-off on a warrant for Daphne Newman's electronics, including her work-phone,' Ryan bragged like a proud papa. 'Before you even have to ask, they records are coming through shortly and the home computers and Will's phone are up with CSU right now.'

'Is Riley back in fighting form?' Esposito inquired, snagging a cupcake.

'Sure is, looking strung out from lack of sleep as any daddy with a toddler at home should. But he is still our Cheese Whiz and the idea of helping take down Kali Wenthram has put a little spring in his step for sure.'

'We all want that,' Adam agreed on a yawn, which had the others looking at him with the appropriate concern of big bros to the younger one.

'Dude, when was the last time you got a proper night's sleep?' Esposito asked.

'Last week, I think it was Tuesday.' He fidgeted a little. 'Meredeth said she's keeping Zane for a sleepover tonight so Lindsay and I can have a night together just ourselves.'

'Hey, cheap as it sounds, sometimes the best to clear your mind is just pouring all that emotion into some seriously down-and-dirty sex with your wife,' Ryan pointed out, wagged his thumb between himself and his partner. 'God knows we've both been there, so has Kate and Lanie and Shane too.'

'I know the healing effects of sex with my wife, believe me. It's the getting home to see her part.'

Before Adam could go too far into building up a nice steamy scenario with Lindsay, the desk phone rang and Ryan picked up.

'Ryan.'

The others waited with baited breath, watched when Ryan closed his eyes and did a single fist pump. 'Right, we're on our way.'

* * *

'I wasn't expecting Huey, Dewey, and Louie.'

'Quit whining or you won't get one of these.'

Esposito held up the box of cupcakes as he stood beside Riley Fontina's chair in the AV lab of CSU. The man was in full new-daddy mode, no question - pictures of his lovely wife and fellow CSU tech Susan Andrews lying in bed, sitting in a rocker, stretched on her belly with their bouncing baby boy they'd named Andrew Raffaele Fontina, and smudges like bruises beneath Riley's eyes to indicate the level of sleep he was getting, or rather not getting these days.

'How old is your little guy now, Riley?' Ryan asked, to counterpoint Esposito's brusqueness.

'Just turned one on July twenty-fifth. He's walking and talking already, and says he wants to watch movies and blood all day like Mommy and Daddy.'

'Sounds about right.'

'So what's the big something?' Adam asked as Riley selected a chocolate cupcake from the offerings.

'Right the big something.' Riley spun back to his console, apparently perked up from the homemade pastry. 'I was combing through the emails on Will Newman's home computer and found something rather interesting. Guess who was emailing to username laurel-underscore-turner at ?'

'Will was emailing with our killer?' Esposito replied in disbelief, then lifted an eyebrow when Riley shook his head.

'Nope. Daphne was emailing with her cousin.'

'Cousin,' he repeated. 'Kali Wenthram is Daphne Newman's cousin?'

'No, Laurel Turner is Daphne Newman's cousin. Laurel Turner also filed charges with the Sixty-Fourth precinct that her purse had been stollen when she was at a restaurant in Alphabet City two weeks ago. She'd been carrying her phone, her wallet which had her credit card and driver's license, and three hundred cash, and her iPad.'

'Okay, so what does that have to do with-'

'Laurel does not own any other laptop, according to the report. All her information is on that iPad.'

'Which means we can GPS track her, but Kali's smart she would have thought of that.'

'True, but we can also track the iPad's serial number through the wifi signal sent out by the iPad regardless of whether the GPS is turned on or not.'

'You can do that?' Esposito asked in wonder, and Riley nodded, poked his tongue out to catch cupcake crumbs.

'If you are the uber-est of the ubergeeks, which I am, you know how to do it in your sleep. But that's not even the big thing.'

'Seems pretty huge to me,' Ryan commented, and Adam snickered.

'That's what she said.'

'Guys, grow up,' Esposito barked and they snapped to attention. 'What's the other big thing?'

'Did you know that Daphne Newman was adopted?' When they all shook their heads, Riley snagged another cupcake to take home to his baby mama. 'As per my orders, I dug up anything I could on her and she might have been legally listed as Daphne Turner before her marriage but she was born Daphne Wilson.'

'Wilson.' The name rang a bell for Adam, making his neck itch. 'Wilson, why is that name so familiar?'

'It's one of Kali's aliases.' Ryan felt the itch too, the puzzle pieces shift in his brain.

'She used it on Thea and Melonga's friend Chantal the night she went missing. Kristy Wilson, that's it.'

'So I did a little digging again, and it turns out Daphne Wilson did indeed have a sister named Kristine but here's a cliche old as time. They were identical twins.'

'Fuck me,' Esposito breathed with a shake of the head. 'This is like a fucking goddamn soap opera more and more!'

'Tip of the iceberg, my friend,' Riley informed the trio of stunned detectives. 'The mother was a stereotypical teenage loser, crackhead high school dropout who got pregnant by some street thug and put the babies up for adoption so she could continue her miscreant ways. The babies were adopted by two different families, the Turners for Daphne and another family of Wilsons who were no relationship to the birth mother for Kristine.'

'That...' Ryan trailed off, realizing his thought wouldn't make much sense.

'That what?'

'Well, that might explain why Kali went after Will.'

'The connection that Will was a target because he was a cop investigating Kali seems stronger than Kali making Will a target because of some twisted circumstance of birth with his wife.'

'I suppose but here's the kicker of it all. Kristine Wilson died twelve years ago in a diving accident in Fiji, during a trip that Laurel Turner was taking as well. I accessed Daphne's email around that time and it turns out that her cousin didn't talk to her for a few days and then she comes back and tells her all about the accident.'

'So...' Adam trailed off, let his brain spin. 'Kristine Wilson, our Kali, trades lives with Laurel Turner, uses that as her clean living front and then uses her real identity to be a treacherous, murdering bitch?'

'Yes.'

'Which then begs one very good question,' Ryan pointed out, giving voice to what they were all thinking. 'What the fuck is Daphne Newman's game?'


	26. Refreshment of the Senses

Upon returning to the Homicide bullpen, the trio of detectives went straight to Beckett's desk, where they found her going over reports from other officers still looking at possible details skipped in the original cases.

'Athos, Porthos, Aramis, what can I do for you?' she said when she felt their presence.

'We have some seriously twisted juice on Daphne, but we wanted to run it by you first, see if it's worth going to Karpowski over before we bring in a cop's widow for a formal,' Esposito replied.

'Let's hear it.'

The boys ran through their spiel, Beckett's face staying implaccable as she heard their tale. When they'd run it through the only change of expression she had was to roll her lips inward to press them together, a sign Ryan knew to be her 'this is too weird to be bullshit' speech preparation.

'Some times - not often but some times - a person's life is too strange to be made up. This is one of those times, I think.'

'You cannot be serious. Sir,' Adam hastily tacked on when Esposito pinned him with a lethal stare. 'You think this is accurate?'

'Well, what do we know about Kali? She's the theatrical sort and used to getting her own way. She doesn't see people as people, she sees them as opponents or pylons or tools. This kind of thing-' Beckett tapped the file containing paper copies to verify the boys' findings '-would feed her ego and possibly - probably - give her the drive to be what she's become.'

'That's a lot of plates to juggle,' Ryan pointed out. 'How would she keep all of that spinning from prison?'

'Which is where Daphne comes into things,' Esposito concluded, shifting the pieces around.

'Before we go leaping to conclusions, we're going to brief the team, make sure they are all updated on this information so we can move forward as a unit. No single person is getting the glory on this one and I'll be damned if that kind of sniping is gonna start now.'

All three cops nodded, as Beckett continued, 'Ryan, Espo, you guys are going to bring Daphne into interview. Read her her rights but put her in the lounge, put her at ease. Do you best to make it feel like follow-up.'

'Is it possible that Will was murdered because someone was trying to send you a message and so on?' Ryan inquired; at Beckett's nod, he returned to his own desk, as did Esposito. she turned to Adam, leaned forward to speak to him quietly.

'Adam, I want you to go upstairs to the crib and sleep for two hours. No arguing,' she went on in her best big-sister voice when she saw his eyes fire in protest. 'You are zoned, you are grieving and dealing with shock. As your CO, it's my job to make sure that the first person you protect is yourself right now. Otherwise you will be no good to protect and serve anyone else.'

'I know.' He leaned back, sighed heavily. 'I know, I just...what the fuck happened, Kate? Seriously, he was the best guy I knew.'

'A lot of people have their issues below the surface. I'd never have guessed that Lindsay came from such a fanatically religious upbringing if Alexis hadn't brought it up to me.'

'When we met, I thought she was a virgin, I'd never guessed she'd have been hurt as she was,' Adam said softly.

'That's why knowledge is power, Detective. A little feeds the imagination, a lot feeds the brain. We started out with a little and now we have a lot.'

'We'll get more.'

Beckett nodded, gave him the same smile she'd give RJ or Jojo, or her granddaughter now. 'After nap-time.'

'Yes Nana.'

'Watch your mouth, boy. That's Omi, and only for Petra.' Beckett pointed at him. 'Now go get some rest for two hours or until we catch a break. If not, you'll be rising and shining for the briefing.'

'At home, I'd be rising and shining for a de-briefing with my wife,' Adam chuckled as he rose, unable to stop the yawn. 'And it would have a much happier ending.'

'Filthy.' But there was a little smile in Beckett's voice as she said it and watched him go, her first one in days.

* * *

Though it made him feel childish and, yeah okay it made him feel weak, Adam had to admit the downtime in the crib most definitely helped recharge the batteries. For a microsecond he was at home, wondering if Lindsay had gotten enough sleep beside him because of their little boy. Zane was such a good baby, and so loved by his friends and family. Then a loud thump by the door had Adam jolting awake and he remembered he wasn't at home, he was still at work.

Shaking his head, he swung his legs around with a groan. Okay, maybe the batteries weren't all the way recharged - he had a sandpaper tongue and glue coating the insides of his skull and his eyelids. God, he wanted to just go home...and Adam knew that if he were at home he'd be driving his bride nuts thinking about work. Rocks and hard places, he thought on a sigh then lifted his nose a little higher when he smelled it - real food, civilian made and delicious.

'Thought you could use some eats, the way you were snoring.'

Adam saw Watkins standing in the doorway, held out a container. 'It's from Esposito's wife, tandoori chicken with provolone, garlic mayo, onions and lettuce. There's a bag of chips and homemade iced tea on your desk. The guys sent me up so you wouldn't feel too awkward about it.'

'When was Meredeth by? What time is it?'

Watkins glanced at her phone. 'Just after lunchtime. Why?'

'Nothing.' Beckett had given him another hour, Adam thought, waving his fingers at her. 'Hand over the Meredeth treats and no one gets hurt.'

'I heard the word around the water cooler when I first joined the Twelfth that Esposito was one lucky bastard having a wife who looked like Kate Dillon and cooked liked Nigella Lawson. Now I see that sandwich and makes me a tad jealous he got to marry her,' Watkins mused as Adam dug in while they headed for the elevator. 'Of course my Brie makes a mean barbecued brisket so I suppose I'm lucky too.'

'How are things with you and the missus?'

Watkins glanced at her hands, saw her engagement ring glittering on her finger where it would be joined by her wedding ring before the the year's end. 'Busy time of year for Brie, getting ready for Hallowe'en, so me not being around 'cause of this case isn't so hot for her when she wants to bitch and vent.'

'What does she do?'

'She's the sous-chef at Cafe Jelly, the little pastry shop over at Lexington and Forty-Fourth. Everyone wants pie and cookies and cakes for pre-Thanksgiving dinner parties.'

'Huh.' Adam shook his head, earning a funny look from Watkins. 'What?'

'What's with the face?'

'Well, you're talking about being jealous of Javi for marrying a hot woman who is a great cook, and you're engaged to a pastry chef.'

'Exactly. A pastry chef, she can hardly make soup unsupervised,' Watkins laughed, pressing the button for the appropriate floor. 'You are worse than my brother some days.'

'Yeah well...' Adam trailed off, stuffed his face with the sandwich and nearly cried in joy. 'Fuck me, this is so good, this is like hot dirty sex on a bun.'

'Feeling a little twitchy, pal?'

'Overtired,' he corrected, 'and Lindsay usually fixes me up from that. Of course, this case going the way it is, I think I might see her and my kid next week some time, if we're lucky.'

'Well, don't get so snippy, because Beckett has called us all in to share new details. So fill your gob with that sammy, wash it down with the iced tea and try not to look too smug that you got something resembling a decent meal. Beckett said you'll definitely wanna be alert for the briefing.'


	27. Clarification of Details

Adam and Watkins found their places, noting that not a single cop in the room was wearing any kind of black arm-band to denote grieving. The party line would be that if they gave into their grief over losing Will Newman they would lose their focus on the investigation. Adam knew better though, knew they would be looking at him since he'd been Newman's partner and all. They'd probably judge him for not knowing, not seeing the signs; Adam was ready with a comeback - hard to see your partner as a partner when he treated you like a fucking servant or worse, didn't even acknowledge you on a key case.

He felt a squirm of guilt when Toh nudged an empty chair an inch to his right, jutted his chin at him. 'Have a seat with your civilian food.'

'Now, now Jason,' Watkins admonished him, using her best mommy-voice. 'Adam's got to eat too. The fact Lady Espo made him a snack is circumstantial. Besides, didn't Geoffs dig deep and spring for like eight pies from One Dollar Pizza on Twenty-Third?'

'Sure did and it was delicious. But there's delicious, and then there's civilian delicious, the kind that says true love with meat and bread from your wife's kitchen.'

'Mine would have me bring homemade donuts,' Watkins started, then clammed up when Beckett came in with Karpowski, who looked more than a little worse for wear, and Deputy Chief of Detectives Roy Montgomery. The sight of him had Adam and Watkins pokering up a little. Every cop in the room knew that One-PP had to be kept in the loop on a case like this, but seeing their presence in the form of their former captain was a bit of a jolt.

'Before we begin, Captain Karpowski has a few words to say with regards to Detective Newman's homicide,' Montgomery said, then glanced at Karpowski.

'Thank you.' Karpowski cleared her throat as best as she could; everyone could hear the tears there, yet when she spoke they thought of her not as a weak female but as a teacher mourning a favoured student. 'Will Newman was one of the finest cops I had the pleasure of working with. His personal life did have its ups and downs as do all of ours. But Will Newman was not a drunk or a stereotype and he never crossed the line into unethical behaviour that would tarnish or jeopardize. Nor for that matter has anyone in this room.'

She let her eyes land on Adam, lock with his for just a moment before continuing, 'Will Newman believed in the letter of the law, believed in the power of this department to work for good and refused to give up without a fight. We honour his memory by following that example. As...as a result of the loss of one man, and with other cases needing our attention, I will be reassigning certain teams.'

'This is in no way a reflection on your abilities or dedication to bringing Kali Wenthram to justice,' Montgomery jumped in, 'but rather a demonstration of our trust in your skills and judgement to continue serving and protecting others in need of our assistance parallel to this case.'

'Detective Beckett will be taking Detectives Ryan, Esposito and Brennan, along with Brooks, Toh, Avery and Watkins to continue the Wenthram investigation. The remaining detectives and officers will be reporting to Geoffs to handle current or fresh cases for the foreseeable future. I've also spoken with Vice and Special Victims, because of the nature of these crimes, they have agreed to lend us eight more uniformed officers for assistance of necessary. Please see Geoffs for their names.'

There was grumbling, as there always was with a shake-up of power, but given the events of the morning it was mostly just for form's sake. So low was the buzz as the dismissed cops stepped out of the conference room with Karpowski that when Beckett stepped forward to pull her board she'd put together with her officers' information it didn't even take her opening her mouth to have them settling once more. She took a moment for nostalgia when she saw the faces before her, glanced to her left to see Montgomery there with his spiffy suit and tie. With a sip of her coffee, Beckett brought her streamlined team up to speed.

'This morning, Detectives Ryan, Esposito and Brennan along with Riley Fontina in CSU culled information that we believe has given us a fresh angle to look at regarding Kali Wenthram.'

She gestured to the photos of Laurel Turner and Daphne, hoping what she was about to tell her men was as succinct as possible. 'We believe that Kali Wenthram was born Kristy Wilson, hence her fascination with the letters K and W. She and her twin sister were separately adopted and raised in completely different parts of the state. There is no evidence they ever had contact growing up, but it is easy to learn that a computer savvy expert such as Kali would know how to find the records of her own adoption.'

'Jump to March fifteenth, twelve years ago.' Ryan picked up the rhythm, rising from his spot in the front row of chairs. 'Kristy Wilson goes on a trip to Fiji and never made it home. Her body was never recovered after a massive search in the area she was last seen. Daphne Newman's cousin Laurel was also on this trip and made mention of it to Daphne.'

'We initially believed as well that she has used the identity of Daphne Newman's cousin Laurel as a legitimate front for her current activities,' Ryan went on. 'However, a quick call to Laurel Turner-'

'The real one this time,' Esposito jumped in, thinking of how 'Laurel Turner' had shown up at the second crime scene.

'Right the real one, this verified for us that she has been where she's said she's been.'

'So who the hell are we chasing,' Avery piped up, twirling a pencil in her fingers; Esposito couldn't blame her for her confusion.

'Kristy Wilson.'

'You just said she's dead.'

'We think Kali faked her death, and has been using her real name with a faked birth certificate and Social Security number to save her own face for public needs.' Beckett pinned up photos of Daphne Newman, Kali Wenthram from a media still from her release, and the ID of Kristy Wilson. 'Notice how she's got a rounder chin and cheeks, the brown eyes and hair instead of green and red?'

'Putty, wigs and lenses,' Avery mused aloud. 'We know Kali loves theatrics, this is child's play for her to pull off an ID switcheroo.'

'Question. Why drag Laurel Turner into it?' Toh piped up, curiosity piqued.

'That was as much giving Will Newman the finger as it was convenience. That way if she was asked where she was during the time in question, poof she has Laurel Turner as a front and we can check things like credit card receipts,' Esposito explained.

'Isn't that the point of having Kristy Wilson?'

'The point of having Kristy Wilson is for when she goes hunting, and needing her trade supplies,' Beckett replied. 'We are in the process of waiting on a warrant for Kristy Wilson's home which may take a few hours given that it is Saturday but we are being patient. The moment we have that, we will be giving our CSU tech Riley Fontina free reign over Kristy Wilson's entire electronic life, including the lifted

'So just to clarify.' Brooks, a stalwart uniform who despite well-honed skills preferred to be on the street in uniform, leaned forward and pointed at the boards. 'Kristy Wilson is Kali Wenthram's real name.'

'Yes.'

'And this crazy bitch-whore faked her own death, dragged Daphne Newman's cousin into this mess just because she was in her way, and then proceeded to use her real name with a fake SSN and birth certificate to keep a clean life on the surface, while using Kali Wenthram as her criminal alias to kill eighteen people.'

'Exactly.'

'Okay.' Brooks gave a confirming little nod, as if in reassurance that was indeed the lay of the land. 'Just so we know how much of a fucked-up crazy we are dealing with here.'


	28. Change of Rules

'Remember too from both Kali's original criminal-psych diagnosis and our own observations,' Montgomery added, 'she is a homicidal omnivore. She gives no thought to colour, creed, age or gender. The only thing we know is that her...lab area, for lack of a better word, is somewhere here.'

He pointed to the map Adam had drawn up the day the first body had dropped - Christ, could that really only have been five days ago? - with his knuckles. 'We know she is somewhere in this area because she drugs her targets and has to get them off the street and out of sight quickly.'

'Here is the plan.' Beckett looked at each one of her men. 'Adam, you speak tech like Riley. You are his new best friend, my main man. Ryan and Avery, you two are going to pull in Daphne Newman for a formal interview. Press her to see if when she was talking to Laurel the last little while she noticed things that were off. Espo, Brooks, Toh, you guys are going over the Farrah Thurman crime scene. I will catch up with you once Montgomery and I make statements to the press as promised at one-fifteen. Dismissed.'

* * *

What's got you down, pretty girl?'

Sascha Russell looked at the blonde sitting beside her at the bar; it was just the two of them there on a Saturday afternoon, so it was was unmistakable who she was speaking to. 'What?'

'My mother always asked me that when I was upset.' Kali smiled in sympathy; it was one of her favourite games to play with her prey. It was true, that old adage that a good lie was rooted in a partial truth.

'Well, I just had a huge fight with my best friend.'

'Oh?'

'Yeah, she thinks because she's gotten promoted to patio manager at her restaurant she's got every right to ignore all the time in favour of her friends at work.' Sascha laughed bitterly, drained her beer bottle. 'Never mind the fact that when I spent the night for the first time with my guy, a guy it took me nearly two years to find, she demanded I clear my schedule and we go for a girls' night of margaritas so she could hear every last detail about it. Now it's, sorry can't tonight I've got plans in the last three weeks. I mean, it's ridiculous!'

'What's her name? Where's her restaurant? Il'll hunt her down and tell her she has to pay,' Kali told her teasingly, though she knew the girl didn't know she was serious.

'Emily Watson, she's a hostess at Sugar Plum Fairy on Amsterdam Avenue at Seventy-First. Just tell her you're my new best friend,' Sascha added mockingly with a derisive shake of her head.

'Done.' Kali cocked her head, considered her. 'Want a refill?'

'Sure.'

Perfect. Kali thought, discreetly dipping into her purse for tissues and palming the little vial. She handed them to Sascha, whose waterworks had kicked up again, then with the skill of a master illusionist, tipped the vial into the beer the bartender set in front of them. She barely glanced at her own as she nudged the bottle towards Sascha. 'To bitches.'

'Hear-hear,' Sascha agreed, and to Kali's great delight, she guzzled down half in a single shot. It was indeed her lucky day. 'Oh, God, I needed that.'

'Sounds like it.'

'I used to think people who drowned their sorrows were either weak or stupid but now...' Sascha trailed off as she stood up, saw her vision go wobbly at the edges. She tried to take a few steps but it was like she was walking with only half the usual amount of gravity found on Earth. 'Oh Je-suh...think I'm..drunnnnnn...'

'Come on honey.' To anyone, even the bartender, it would simply look like Kali was hopping off her chair and walking her new buddy to the door. 'Let's go find you a nice quiet spot to lie down.'

* * *

Emily Watson sighed when she saw the well-dressed woman sitting on the patio with no sign of her waitstaff anywhere. God, she just wanted to go home early and check her messages like a needy girlfriend one more time; she desperately wanted - needed - to talk to Sascha. Her big-sis hadn't taken any of her calls since Thursday morning before which was not like them at all; they'd had their blow-out hurricane of a fight on Wednesday night and it was now Saturday. Even if it was a cursory 'hey I'm alive and going to bed' message, they always communicated on a daily basis. Being out of touch with her was more than Emily could handle.

She couldn't believe Sascha was accusing her of blowing her off for more important people; what kind of friend did Sascha take her for? Okay, fine, she understood it a little since Sascha had major abandonment issues, but this wasn't Emily leaving behind her best friend, not in the slightest. Emily could just picture the look on Sascha's face when she told her big-sis she'd been apartment hunting so they could be roomies. Sure, there'd be the nights when Sascha's man Tommy slept over but that's what God had invented earplugs for right? It was worth it for a friend like Sascha; she was a great friend even with all her problems but Emily had her own too. Didn't Sascha know how much Emily looked up her big-sis? Sascha was a hell of a cook, a total Shark-Week nut, not to mention she had the coolest job ever - a voice-over artist who also worked as a dialect coach on movie sets from time to time. That was how she'd met Tommy Keane - yes, _the _Tommy Keane, the Welsh A-list action star. And man oh man, that novel that Sascha had written, The Ink That Binds? It made_ Fifty Shades of Grey_ look like a Disney movie and it was going to turn Sascha into a superstar.

Emily felt a guilty pang of jealousy when she thought of Sascha's novel. Her friend would have to be on the road promoting it, doing signings and interviews around the country, maybe even internationally; that was only one more reason Emily wanted Sascha to be her roomie, so that when she returned home from being a super-star she'd have her biggest cheerleader - okay, biggest aside from Tommy - right there for her.

Emiy forced herself to push it all aside as she took out her notepad and pen. 'Hi,' she greeted Kali, 'welcome to Sugar Plum Fairy, my name is Emily. Has someone been by to take your drink order?'

'Emily Watson?'

'Yes?' Emily's brow furrowed in confusion. 'Have we met?'

'I'm a friend of Sascha's,' Kali replied, 'and she just asked me to pop by to give you a message.'

'You're friends with Sascha?' Emily's heart leaped with joy. 'Is she still upset with me?'

'Oh, no, not at all. She won't bother you anymore.'

'What?' At this, Emily's relief was short-lived.

Kali smiled. 'My name's Kali and I was the best friend Sascha ever had. I listened to her when she needed an ear, and then I put that fat disgusting bucket of blubber out of her misery. So now you can go back to your glamorous new friends with a clear conscience.'

Kali stood up, leaned in to speak in Emily's ear; she'd gone for shock-value and was pleased to see it in the girl's wide, dark eyes. 'The last thing Sascha said to me before I put a rope around her throat was that I should come and tell you that she still loved you like a little sister.'

'Kali,' Emily breathed, 'Kali Wenthram.'

'Oh, you do know me.' Kali's smile turned vicious as a blade. 'You can thank me later for taking that sniveling idiot off your hands.'

'You...you killed her.'

'You already broke her heart. I just finished what you started.'

Kali winked, then turned on her heel and left the patio of Sugar Plum Fairy. The sound of Emily beginning to shriek in confused, devastated denial was music to her ears.


	29. Possibility of a Real Lead

Ryan sighed as he came out of interview, the drain of terrogating Daphne Newman weighing heavily on his mind. It was impossible to get blood from a stone or information from a cop's widow. They'd been going at it for nearly an hour and a half and by God, he needed a break.

He stopped when he saw a pale pixie of a young woman clutching at a bag while Julian escorted her into the bullpen. 'Can I help you miss?'

'My name is Emily Watson, and Kali Wenthram just came to my restaurant and told me she killed my sister,' the woman blurted out.

Ryan's skin went cold; he took the woman by the arm straight into the visitors lounge and shoved her gently by the shoulders onto the couch, dragged a chair over to face her square on.

'Miss Watson, I need you to tell me exactly what happened.'

Emily walked him through it, and as she did, Esposito felt himself getting the vibe. The woman was too shaken to be lying but Ryan suspected she wasn't the liar in the story. 'When did you last speak to Sascha?'

'Wednesday night. We fought over not getting to spend time together and she accused me of not caring about her anymore.' Emily sniffled, shook her head. 'I've been apartment hunting with every spare moment I have so that I can ask her to move in with me. I was trying to find something between our two jobs with enough room so when her boyfriend stays over, she wouldn't feel like a third person is cramping our space. And the nights she'd spend with him, I wouldn't feel alone in a space meant for more people.'

'That is quite a set of rules for finding an apartment in Manhattan,' Ryan agreed and Emily laughed a little.

'I was avoiding her so it could be a surprise. I didn't realize she was missing Tommy so much that she was starting to think such horrible things.'

'Tommy's her boyfriend?'

'Tommy Keane, the actor? He's shooting a movie out in Colorado. Anyways, I didn't think she was as lonely as she was, it was just bad timing. It...She thought I was moving on from her, that I didn't need her friendship anymore. That's just plain crazy-talk.' Emily shrugged. 'But Sascha's had some issues with abandonment from past friendships, people telling her she was too needy and they should just accept they'd moved on in their lives from her. I can't blame her entirely for losing it on me when it would look to her a little like that was what I was doing.'

'My wife's been through that too,' Ryan told her in sympathy. He didn't mind a slight divergence since it was keeping Emily from snapping entirely. 'Go on.'

'I figured when my shift was over, I'd take her Thai food. That's our usual peace offering to each other when we've had a spat, then we'd spend the night watching movies and getting drunk. I was gonna tell her everything tonight, because I finally found a place and she'd love it so much.'

'But Kali showed up instead. What time was that?'

'Around three. I'd just looked at my watch and thought to myself, I wanna go home now and talk to my friend, not have to wait another two hours until five o'clock.'

Ryan grabbed his phone, dialed Lanie at the morgue and put her on loud-speaker. 'Doctor Parrish-Robbins,' she answered briskly.

'Lanie, Ryan. I need a favour.'

'Shoot.'

'What is the longest stretch of time between TOD and discovery of the body on Kali Wenthram's victims?'

'Original crime spree or the current one?'

'Both.'

Ryan heard Lanie shuffling papers, then her voice again. 'In the original case, six hours. Currently the longest span was the first girl, killed around three in the morning and found at quarter to eight. Why?'

'Have you had any new customers ID'd as Sascha Watson-'

'Russell,' Emily corrected him, a trickle of hope threatening to spring fresh, 'her name is Sascha Russell.'

'You catch that Lanie?'

'Yeah I did.' There was the clatter of computer keys. 'Nope. Nothing, not even on remote.'

'Thanks.' Ryan hung up. 'Emily, I need you to be very clear and specific. Did Sascha post anything to her social feeds this afternoon? Facebook or Twitter or anything like that?'

'She tweeted the picture of a beer glass from a pub near her apartment on Fifteenth Street. Doogan's.' Emily pulled out her phone, scrolled through her social feed until she found the photo. 'Time-stamped just after twelve.'

'She labeled it Friend Forgetter, huh? She must have been pissed.'

'Yeah, she was and I said nasty things too.' Emily sniffled once more. 'I just hope she knows I love my big sis.'

Ryan let her cry it out, thinking of the way Meredeth and Beckett and Lanie called each other sisters and knew that blood was only one kind of bond. 'Don't move from here, okay? I'll come and get you in a moment.'

He raced out of the room to Beckett's desk, saw her there talking to Geoffs and Avery. 'Guys, I have a seriously hot lead.'

The group turned to give him their undivided attention while Ryan explained Emily's story; he could tell from the looks on their faces that they were getting the vibe too.

'Kali is a bragger, she likes to show us up by dropping bodies before they're cold. There's only one reason she'd keep a hostage,' Avery reasoned.

'She's a full-tilt diva who wants a big splashy showdown,' Ryan replied and Beckett and Avery both nodded.

'OKay.' Beckett pulled her hands through her hair. 'Avery, get on the phone to the lab, find out if they've ID'd the drugs Kali's used to dose her victims. Ryan, tag Espo for the pub where Emily said Sascha went, chat up the bartender. See if we can get a line on the cab she took.'

'Cab?'

'Kali's a strong woman but she could only carry the weight of an unconscious woman so far. She'd need to be either next door or take a cab to wherever she's holding her.'

'What if it's a private vehicle like the little show with the antique store?' Avery asked.

'She won't risk using the same style, especially since Sascha seems to be of particular significance to her. Who-' The ringing of Beckett's desk phone interrupted their theorizing. 'Beckett.'

'Well hello there, Becky-girl.'

Everyone went very still as they heard the voice. 'Kali.'

'Missing me yet, Detective? I must confess, it is boring as snails having to wait to give you another little treat but I did give you a breadcrumb to follow today, didn't I little Gretel?'

'We know you have Sascha, Kali.' Ryan leaned in as though the phone were Kali herself and he was getting in her personal space. 'That's not your usual play.'

'True but-' Kali clucked her tongue '-this is a special milestone. She'll be number twenty on the list and twenty has always been my lucky number. I figure I deserve to spice things up a little.'

'Is that a clue?'

'Sure, if you want to believe it is. Giving you a cheat code is, well, cheating,' Kali laughed, then spoke in a flat, icy tone. 'We know cheaters aren't allowed in our little game.'

'Five people are dead, Kali, and you're holding a sixth hostage,' Beckett pointed out, 'I wouldn't call that a little game.'

'Is that her?'

Ryan swore under his breath - Emily had left the lounge and was standing five feet away, close enough to hear exactly what Kali was saying. Her cheeks were still pale but her eyes were burning hot now. 'Emily, you don't need to hear this.'

'Is that her?' she repeated and moved to the desk. 'Kali? Kali, is that you?'

'Detective are we having a party?' Kali asked; Ryan braced his hands on Emily's slight shoulders to keep her in place.

'It's Emily Watson, Sascha's sister,' he replied smoothly.

'Oh yes, of course, the girl from the restaurant. Say hello, Sascha.'


	30. Strength of a Woman A

Rynan ad to marvel at Emily's composure when the wispy, tired yet still hopeful voice came over the line.

'Emmy?'

'Sascha!' Emily fought for control. She gave a watery little laugh, fluttered her hands near the phone as if she wanted to touch it but couldn't. 'Sascha, it's me, it's Emmy!'

'So...so...sorry.'

'It's okay, you just have to hold on, okay? I'm here, I'm here for you.'

'How sweet,' Kali cooed mockingly. 'But don't forget what you did, Emily, hurting your friend like that.'

'No...no Emmy,' Sascha protested despite her fatigue, 'ev'ry-thin...ch...chan-ges...it's...kay...get...i t...'

'Sascha, I've been working on something to surprise you, that's all, you and Tommy,' Emily blurted out on a teary laugh. 'That's why you have to hold on, so I can share it with you both.'

'Rea...lly?'

'Really, really, sis. You don't get to check out until you know the surprise and when you know what it is, you won't wanna ever leave this planet.'

Kali's voice was back, welcoming as winter. 'I'd love to continue this little kiss-and-make-up Emmy-dear but Sascha's going to be tied up for a while now. And no, that's not a metaphor.'

'You touch one hair on her head and I will end you,' Emily warned and saw red when Kali laughed.

'What will you do? Huh? There's nothing you can do, just like the cops can't do shit to me.' There was the terrible sound of a cord being pulled, Sascha letting out a low moan. 'Anything else you want Sascha to know before we start to play?'

'You filthy, despicable whore!' Emily's rage went from zero to Aida in a nanosecond and she struggled against Ryan's effective hold as she hollered. 'You hurt her, I'll kill you myself!'

'Yeah, sure you will,' Kali taunted her.

'Give me back my sister!'

'No.'

'Give me back my sister!'

'No.'

'Give me back my sister!' Emily screamed at the phone before she collapsed into hysterical sobbing. 'You demon bitch from hell! I want my sister back!'

'Ryan get her out of here!' Beckett barked at him; when the weeping woman was out of ear-shot, she turned back to the phone and tuned back into Kali's lunatic sing-song.

'My, my she's feisty.'

'Kali, we both know if you really wanted Sascha dead you'd already have done her in. What are you really after?'

'What I'd love to do is keep doing what I'm doing right now, but since most uptight stiffs in this town don't see I'm just utilizing my natural talents I'm going to make you a deal. You figure out where Sascha is in the next twelve hours and I promise we will have a good and proper face to face. Twelve hours and one second, and Emily's going to probably have to be hospitalized when she sees what I've done to her sister. Ciao, darling.'

Beckett could only curl her fingers in frustration as the line went dead. 'Chow this, you fucking crazy bitch,' she muttered as she fumbled for her phone to get ahold of Esposito and company. When he picked up on the second ring, she didn't give a thought about cutting him off.

'Hey, Beckett, we-'

'Get everyone back here, on the double. This is now a search-and-rescue.'

'Kate what's happened?' Esposito asked, his tone going ice cold.

'Kali hasn't killed her sixth victim yet, she's holding her hostage and has given us a deadline to find her.'

'We're on our way.'

She hung up, then raced to Karpowski's office to find her on the phone with none other than their former captain. 'Captain, sir, I need to speak with you and Deputy Chief Montgomery, now.'

'Dete-'

'Kali Wenthram just mad contact, she is holding her sixth victim hostage.' Respect due rank be damned, Beckett thought, Karpowski and Montgomery would both understand in this case as she barreled on, 'the hostage, Sacha Russell, could also pose a bit of a problem too if her partner shows up.'

'Why is that, Kate?' Montgomery asked from where Karpowski had put him on speaker.

'Sascha Russell's boyfriend is Tommy Keane.'

'The action star, right? Shit, we'll have the press on us like woodchucks in a lumber yard,' Karpowski sighed. 'How did you come by all this information?'

'Apparently Kali went to the restaurant where Sascha's best friend Emily works, and Emily came straight here.'

'Detective bring Emily in here, now please.'

Beckett nodded, zipped out to find Ryan quietly murmuring her through an official statement. 'Detective Ryan, I need you to go to CSU and find Detective Brennan and CSU Tech Fontina, ask them to come into Karpowski's office now. Miss Watson, I need you to come with me.'

To her great relief, the woman got to her feet - she was so tiny, Beckett noted, much like Honey-Milk and Lili - and walked with steady, if jerky, steps; they headed into Karpowski's office and it was only when Beckett closed the door that Emily's waterworks kicked in again. Without saying a word, Karpowski offered her tissues then cleared her throat.

'Miss Watson, I'm Captain Karpowski and I have Deputy Chief of Detectives Roy Montgomery on speaker phone here. We need to ask you a few questions about Sascha and Tommy's relationship. We understand he is a media personality so we need to know what their relationship is treated like in the press.'

'People know that he has a girlfriend but they aren't hounded like Brad and Angelina were, if that's what you mean?' Emily sniffled, blew her nose. 'Why does that matter?'

'We want to make sure the press doesn't see this as the cops suddenly caring because a celebrity's spouse is involved,' Montgomery replied, 'and two, that Tommy isn't shoved into the spotlight during a difficult time when he can be of help to us.'

'How can he help? He's been in Colorado for nearly two months of pre-production on his new film.'

'He has been Sascha's boyfriend for two years, right?' Beckett asked her; at Emily's nod, she continued, 'Tommy probably knows her as well as you do and the more information about her the two of you can give us about her will give us that much more of an edge to find her.'

'Okay.'

'Miss Watson.' Now Karpowski wore her mothering hat, the one she'd used on Adam that morning. 'Everything that we ask you is for the purpose of bring Sascha home alive and Kali to justice. However insignificant you think a detail might be, don't hold it back. Can you do that for me?'

'Yes.'

'Okay. The first thing I need you to do is tell me what his flight is, where he is getting in and what time.'

'Why-'

'We are going to send you with one of our detectives in an unmarked car to the airport to bring you right here so there will be little risk of the press finding out, at least on our end. What are Sascha's height and weight?'

'Umm, she's about five-eight, five-nine, one-seventy five but she's not chunky, she's just in good shape.' Emily closed her eyes. 'I keep telling her the scales don't account that muscle weighs more than fat. Most of the time she listens.'

'And you said her social feed did a check-in at Doogan's on Fifteenth street?'

'Uhuh.'

Beckett nodded, seeing the picture Karpowski was pulling together. 'Emily, would Sascha be the type to go off with a stranger, man or woman, that she just met?'

'No.' Emily shook her head. 'She'd bite her nails all the time if I was out on my own because she didn't want me going home with someone who might turn out to be a bad dude. Like fuck she'd be a hypocrite over that herself.'

'Good, that's good to know.' When she saw Emily's eyes well up once more, Beckett put a hand to her shoulder. 'I promise you, we will do everything we can to bring her home safely.'


	31. Sixth Play of Round Two

Sascha knew pain, but this was unlike anything she'd felt before. She was on her knees, arms strung above her head so her forehead bumped the crook of her elbow, yet she wasn't fastened that tightly. When she tried to stand up, her left ankle gave way, and there was a blinding sting in her left side like she'd been punched or stabbed or something. Adjusting her position, she touched the tips of her fingers to her face; it felt bruised and swollen, like she'd been knocked around after sliding in and out of consciousness. When the blackness threatened to take over, Sascha flared her nostrils, closed her eyes to get it together.

_Come on, you sissy_, she schooled herself, _you are better than this, you will not los__e it now_. Sascha was used to picking a focal point in a room, grinding her teeth and powering through as she focused on that point. She did so now, trying to pick something to make her centre so she wouldn't go crazy from being at the mercy of this crazy bitch.

Cold, was the first word that came to mind. Cold white tiled walls, industrial almost in a long and narrow room. Was she being held in a disused hospital or funeral home? Everything was metal and glass - the cabinets, the metal wash basin, the drain in the floor, the shower area. Maybe a shut-down gym of some kind? Sascha tried to sniff, make it sound pitiful; that razor-brained whore was nowhere in sight but it didn't mean she wasn't watching her. What was that smell, cleanser? Bleach? No, it was...Febreeze, she realized on a little laugh. Crazy Kali like a freshly scented work-space.

Workspace, Sascha thought again. That meant there had to be a cellphone signal or wifi or something, which meant they had to be above ground. With fluttering hands she patted herself down; she was still dressed and- yes! Kali hadn't taken her cellphone! Had she missed that or just assumed that it would be in Sascha's purse. She could send Emily a message, encode it the way they did their birthday treasure map texts so that Kali would just think it was gibberish.

The wave of nausea rolled through her as she thought of Emily, wishing she hadn't parted on such sour terms when they'd fought. Her friend wasn't leaving her, it was her own stupid imagination playing games on her yet again. What the hell was that about? Why was she doing this stupid shit all of a sudden? Probably because she missed Tommy with such an ache it was making her sick. Tommy, she thought as her eyes threatened to well up.

_Think you p'taq,_ she thought pulling out one of her favourite Star Trek insults, _think fast and hard_. The ride over in the cab - they'd gone south and east; she could tell because they were going away from the sun. Sascha clenched her eyes shut, saw the word 'bags' flash through her brain. Yes, there had been a sign for bags - Sascha remembered it because Emily was such a fiend for purses - and if there was a tacky cardboard sign like that south and east, that meant they were near Canal Street.

Sascha froze as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. With fingers almost numb with fear she pressed _Send_ and tucked the phone back in her pocket, made herself look weepy and pathetic which wasn't too hard at this moment.

It was the smartest play she could have made - a portion of the wall opened and when Sascha pretended to flutter her eyelids, she saw Kali there, standing in front of her in jeans and a pale green t-shirt. The simplicity of the clothes were made incongruous with the cold calculation in her eyes.

'Sascha,' she sang sweetly in her poisoned honey voice, 'come now darling wake up, you don't want to miss all the fun we'll be having soon.'

'The cops...will find me. And you too,' Sascha tried to protest.

'Oh, she's a funny girl,' Kali chuckled with a little shake of her head as she dragged over a rolling-foot table to where Sascha was bound, picked up a wicked looking blade. 'No, you'll be long gone by the time the cops get here.'

'Then why-'

'Because they're stupid, and boring and I wanted this game to be fun. But how can it be fun when there is no challenge?' Kali snapped. 'That's why I love my work, I'm always trying to set personal bests, to be the best.'

'The best what?'

'No one is ever going to forget the terror I put this city through,' Kali said with a surge of pride. 'They'll talk about me for a long time because once they find you and I slip away, they'll bee dead from exhaustion chasing their so-called leads. Like that nice little red herring I set up over that dumb bastard cop's wife. He was a good fuck though, I'll give him that.'

'Out with a bang?' Sascha asked lowly, trying to put Kali off whatever she was going to do with that scary-ass knife.

'Well, two if you want to get technical. But Will Newman is dead and gone, old news by now. You are my present, and future, and I've got something very special for this round.' Kali tapped the point of the knife on the steel tray, making an awful clicking noise. 'I've got to figure out how to open up some nasty gashes on you without taking off your clothes or leaving stains on them. But I think this will certainly help.'

Now she lifted her other hand and Sascha's eyes went round with fear - she'd been so worried about the knife that she never noticed the syringe in Kali's other hand, full of clear liquid that was jammed into her shoulder. The plunger was hit before Sascha could even cry out.

'I want you nice and still, otherwise it might get a little messy here and we don't want that. Yet.'

* * *

'Miss Watson, are you sure there isn't anyone I can call for you?'

Ryan made the offer for what felt like the millionth time as he watched Emily scan her phone, toss it to the lounge's couch in frustration. 'Sascha is my family, she was the first friend I made after coming to New York from Brisbane. Her and Tommy, they are my best friends and-'

'Em?'

Emily looked up, saw Tommy's face through her tears. She staggered to her feet, grabbed him in a fierce hug to make sure he wasn't just part of her vivid hopeful imagination. 'Tommy, thank God you're here. Wait, we were supposed to come and get you, how-'

'I got bumped to an earlier flight and couldn't call. Where is she?'

'Kali Wenthram took her.' Ryan put his hand on Tommy's shoulder, drew his focus away from Emily so he could stay composed for a few more minutes before he ripped the man's world apart.

'Took her?'

'Sascha and I had this big stupid fight on Wednesday night, and she stormed out,' Emily sobbed. 'We hadn't talked since Thursday morning and today she went for a drink, and Kali found her and...'

Emily dissolved into guilt-ridden sobs. 'If I'd fought harder to talk to her, she wouldn't have gone out into the path of that maniac.'

'Emily, this is not your fault or hers.' Tommy held her face in his hands. 'People fight, it's part of human relationships, but unless you called Kali up and said come and get Sascha-'

'What if she isn't okay?'

'She will be.' Tommy wouldn't allow himself to think of the alternative. His Sascha was strong, a fighter through and through. 'She's been through a lot and never cries quits.'

'Kali Wenthram killed nineteen people and now she has Sascha, Tommy.'

The door opened from the other side of the room and a detective Emily didn't recognize came in. 'Miss Watson, Mister Keane, I'm Detective Esposito. We may have some good news, if you can come with me into the bullpen my colleagues need to speak with you.'


	32. Strength of a Woman B

Esposito led them over to his desk where Ryan, Watkins and Beckett had congregated. Before anyone said anything, Tommy pointed at Watkins and blurted out, 'I know you, you're Josh's sister Evie.'

'Who?' Beckett asked, going on alert.

'Josh Watkins, he's one of our producers on the film. He said his sister is a murder cop in New York but I never...' Tommy's ruddy face went pale, his Welsh accent thickening as he tried to get the words out fast enough. 'You found Sascha's body, is that the bloody good news you're here to fucking tell us?'

'Sir, it's nothing like that at all,' Esposito reassured him, sizing the man up. They were roughly the same height, but Esposito judged he had about twenty-five pounds worth of muscle-weight on the slightly-boned action-movie actor and would most likely have the advantage if things got physical. 'We have a trace on her cellphone.'

'That could mean anything,' Emily countered, 'that her mobile was dumped in a trashcan and-'

'Miss Watson, she sent a message from her phone,' Beckett informed her, trying to keep herself from doing a happy dance. 'She managed to send a text to two-one-two four-four-five seven-zero-eight-two.'

'That's my mobile.' Emily's face went sheet-white; with shaky hands she fumbled into her pocket and found her phone. 'Oh God, she did, barely an hour ago after that stupid bitch Kali played her little phone games.'

'What did she say?' Tommy asked her quietly.

Emily held out the phone to Tommy and the detective where they read the short, slightly garbled message - _egs sunnu side ip, pea soip, Pnama bgs - _and remembered with sudden clarity a moment from the summer.

'Miss Watson does this mean anything to you?' Beckett asked tentatively; her excitement was nearly doubled when she saw Emily nod vigorously. 'Yes?

'Yes, it's what I did on her birthday to tell her where to meet me. Eggs sunny side up. Sunny side up, that means sunrise so east. Pea soup means thick. Thick as bricks. Panama bags - Panama canal. Canal Street where knockoffs are sold. We are looking for a brick building on East Canal Street.'

'How did you get all that,' Tommy asked and Emily smiled even as her eyes filled once more.

'I know how my friend thinks. It's a girl thing.'

'You're not wrong.' Another detective - Ryan, Emily remembered - came sprinting in with a printout. 'The Cheese Whiz pinned it down. One-one-six-nine East Canal Street. Tommy, Emily, you'll ride with one of us but you stay out of the way when we tell you to, got it?'

'Absolutely. We just want her back.'

With a brisk nod, Beckett flicked her gaze to Watkins who took Tommy and Sascha towards the lounge, assuring them they would do everything to . The civilians looked after, she hollered for Avery, Brooks and Toh; they appeared like magic with their faces set in stern lines as she gave them the run-down.

'We have a possible location on our victim and our killer. Everyone will use riot gear and the shields will be in the truck should they be needed.' Beckett fed them the address, saw their eyes shift cool and flat; not from the thrill of the hunt but from the pursuit of justice. 'You have exactly-' she checked her watch '-six minutes to gear up. Six minutes and one second we are back here for a debrief. We leave the garage in ten.'

They scattered like ants in a rainstorm, heading for the locker rooms while Beckett took two precious minutes of her time to head to the lounge. She saw Watkins there with Tommy and Emily, both of whom were quietly speaking to her officer.

'Officer,' Beckett said, and all three looked towards her. 'We have an address we are rolling out.'

'Yes sir.' Without a moment's hesitation, Watkins hustled out of the room to leave Tommy and Emily with the senior detective.

'Mister Keane, Miss Watson, you will be allowed to ride with Officer Watkins on the condition you stay out of the way and take any directions given to them by any of the cops on scene. We have no idea what we are walking into with this particular scene and time is of the essence.'

'Of course, whatever will bring Sascha home,' Emily replied, already zipping her purple hoodie up and shouldering her bag.

Beckett didn't bother adding Sascha would be on her way to the hospital regardless of the condition in which they found her; some things were better left to the moment of truth. She pointed them towards the elevator; just as they left the Ry-Sposito monster, Toh and Avery were back already in their gear, zipping and checking their vests. Seconds later, Watkins, Adam and Brooks reappeared and the seven of them assembled in front of her for their briefing.

'The address is one-one-six-nine Canal Street. We will accumulate information on the fly about this building. The priority is Sascha Russell.' She paused only a fraction. 'If necessary, and only if necessary, we treat Kali Wenthram with extreme prejudice. Am I clear?'

She saw them all nod, then shift to attention. Glancing over her shoulder she got the biggest shock of a day full of shocks - Montgomery was walking up to her desk, dressed in full riot-gear himself, tightening the fasteners of his gloves. 'Deputy Chief, I-'

'Detective, this killer got away with the deaths of fourteen people while I was captain of this house,' he replied calmly. 'It's something I've never taken lightly, and she killed a fine cop this time around to boot. People like her deserve to be punished, so trust me when I say I will do everything in my power to ensure that she is taken into custody so that she may pay for her crimes for a very long time.'

* * *

Kali Wenthram frowned, her lower lip jutting out in a pout. Her plaything was proving to be rather defective which made no sense. She'd seen the woman walk into the bar, she'd read the body language perfectly. How could someone that pathetic be so keen to live? This was what came of playing with your food, she thought miserably, which was why it worked so much better when she just had to flop them around.

'You know,' she said conversationally, removing her brass knuckles and studied the bloodied mess of Sascha's face, 'you should feel special. You're a rare bird for me. I've never been one for endurance, I'm a speed demon. But I have to say there is something about you that makes me want to just drag this out.'

Sascha's response was to spit out a mouthful of bloody saliva. 'Yeah...well...yip...ee...f-for...you.'

'Sascha, darling.' Kali shook her head. 'I'm the last person who is going to see you alive, is that how you want to spend your final moments? Bitterness and sarcasm?'

'No...'

'Good girl.'

'I'm...n-not...your...pet-t,' Sascha managed to get out. Her shoulder was screaming in agony, the dull pulsing throb in her injured ankle added a rhythmic beat. 'I'm...not-t...g-oin'...let...y-ou...w-win...'

'Yeah, okay,' Kali mocked her, then stood back to study her work. She'd removed Sascha's blouse, left the rest of her clothes alone. Sascha had a weak shoulder, and that had been lotsa fun to play with. This was the plus side of leaving her game-pieces alive, getting to hear them scream like wild animals. But Sascha wasn't begging or pleading, or even playing the most ridiculously female card of all. Why was that? Did she really think she was going to get to leave this room alive? 'I have to say, you fascinate me.'

'I...shoul'...I'm...' Sascha closed her eyes, actually felt a surge of energy come from somewhere deep inside. She flex the muscles of her good arm, tried to haul herself up so she could stand flamingo style on her good foot. With a quick tongue-rolling check of her teeth, Sascha glared at Kali with the eye not puffed up from her assault. 'I'm...the...one...who...s...gonna...b-bea...you.. .ass...down-n...bi-itch.'


	33. Discovery of the Lair

The fleet of cop cars zipped through the streets, lights and sirens going full tilt to ensure the selfish-minded drivers of Manhattan got the hell out of the way.

'Talk to me guys, what do we know about one-one-six-nine Canal Street?' Beckett asked over the SWAT-comms so they would have their own private communications channel.

'It's changed hands a bunch of times but not its purpose, it's a drug factory,' Adam said punching the info into his tablet. 'And no that's not a metaphor, it had contracts with big-pharma for manufacturing things like anesthetics and delivery systems.'

'Delivery systems?' Avery repeated.

'IV tubes, syringes, that plastic-y dissolving stuff for liquid-gel caps,' Ryan filled in. 'That kind of thing.'

'So that's how Kali's got herself a nice little lab set up without popping up on rented space,' Esposito reasoned. 'Detective Brennan, who is the current owner of said factory?'

There was a few electronic beeps. 'Bank of America. The factory was shut down after the company ran into legal problems with some of its products. That was about six months ago.'

'I remember hearing about that,' Brooks put in. 'Painkillers had traces of something in them from another chemical formula that was causing all kinds of allergic reactions. My son's two youngest kids both had reactions like they'd eaten peanuts or something since they've both got the allergy.'

'So Sascha might not even need to cook, there could be product already stored for what she needs in parts of the building,' Toh pointed out, 'she could just go grocery shopping, so to-'

'All units, all units,' Beckett cut them off. 'We've now reached Canal Street. All lights and sirens off. Avery, Brennan, Brooks, you guys swing around to the south side of the block. Ryan, Espo, you guys take the north side with me. Watkins, hang back two blocks with the civilians to make sure they don't get the idea to come charging in and radio for paramedics, tell them we need to keep this situation contained first.'

'On it,' Watkins replied.

'And myself, Detective?'

Beckett flicked her eyes to her right; Christ she'd nearly forgotten Montgomery was beside her. 'Sir, I need you with me to restrain our target. Our priority is Sascha's safety.'

'Understood.'

The noise died off and they made the approach, stopped a block away from the factory. It was, as per Sascha mumbly message to Emily, a brick building very near a shabby store-front advertising bags on sale. They'd ensure they'd run a full blood panel at the hospital, Beckett thought, so that she could give proof to the lawyers that Kali was indeed one sick fuck. She spied the entrance labeled _PRIVATE PROPERTY AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY_, saw the fresh lock installed complete with a number pad and video screen. Pretty high tech for a repossessed chemical factory.

'The door is secured via digital PIN-code,' she reported to the others, 'south team do you see anything like that?'

'Negative, Beckett, just a few standard deadbolts here,' Adam replied. 'We could bash it in but Avery she started in Robbery before moving to Homicide and she's got skills-'

'Use them, Officer.'

'Yes sir, Detective Beckett.'

There was the subtle click-and-scrape of lock-picks being used, a comforting noise to Beckett as Ryan studied the PIN-pad. 'Beckett, this thing is seriously high-end, it's a Puzzler.'

'A Puzzler?'

'You key in a code but if you screw it up this-' he tapped what looked like a video screen '-turns into a game of Sudoku.'

'The fuck?' Esposito didn't bother toning it down.

'We have two choices, either try to dismantle it and risk tripping a silent alarm or we fill in the blanks and disarm it.'

'Either of you any good at this?' Beckett asked, then heard Brooks' voice.

'Beckett, gimme three, I'll be right there, don't touch that dial.'

In less than two, Beckett saw the seasoned Brooks jogging towards them; she held her flashlight on the panel. 'Do your magic.'

Brooks nodded and with frightening dexterity Brooks played his fingers over the keys, completing the grid in less than three minutes. He looked over his shoulder, pulled open the door. 'It's all yours, Detective.'

'Thank you Officer. Regroup with the south team.'

They filtered in, shining their flashlights like little beams in the cavernous factory hallways. Their moves were silent so that the beat of their hearts felt like taiko drums roaring in their ears.

'Wait.' Esposito stopped, tilted his head to the side. 'You hear that?'

'What?'

'Just...there!'

'I don't hear anything,' Ryan replied slowly as his partner walked sideways to follow his ears. 'Dude-'

'No.' Esposito shut his best friend up with a single word; he heard that sound, he knew that sound. He walked towards a door beside an elevator marked 'STAFF ONLY', tested the handle. Open. He opened the door and the sound he'd heard grew. He shut the door, spoke to his fellow cops.

'Yeah, here we are, down here,' he told them. 'There is something or more likely someone in the lower level.'

'Espo, you've got the ears, you lead,' Beckett said.

Esposito noded, and they followed him through the door, moving quietly down the stairs through a long corridor, where indeed there was the noise of two-footed creatures - a thin scream followed by muffled grunts. 'Move, damn it,' he hissed, and the group sprinted towards the It appeared to be the staff area for locker rooms and lunch break areas; at the end of the hallway - but not the building wall, Beckett noted - was yet another door labeled _MEDICAL ROOM_. She held her fingers to her lips as she heard the voices.

'South team, move in now,' she instructed, then looked at Ryan, Esposito, even Montgomery. He nodded, drew his weapon and aimed it at the door-jam by the knob as Beckett mouthed _three two one_. Montgomery fired two shots, destroying the lock and leading the charge into the room.

'NYPD!'

They swept right, then left, rushing to the far end of the room while trying to process the sight they saw - Sascha was chained at the wrists to a set of pipes, but the chains were long enough that Sascha, despite obvious injuries was riding high on adrenaline and trying to wrap the steel links around Kali's throat. Both were tall women, and despite the two inch advantage Kali seemed to have, Sascha's temper was in full force as she tugged with all her might on the chains to try and cut off Kali's air supply.

'Sascha Russell, this is the police!' Montgomery called out, and was met with a furious squeal from Kali.

'No! No! No! You arent' supposed to be here!'

'Yes...are...' Sascha panted out, using her good arm to try and hook her elbow beneath Kali's chin to cut her air off. 'Tol'...y-you...so...bi-itch!'

'Sascha, my name is Detective Kate Beckett. I know you're hurting and you're scared but your sister and your boyfriend are waiting to see you and we need to take Kali into custody.' Beckett stared at the woman, her belly tight with sickness as she saw the mess Kali had made of her face.

'She...has...t-t...pay.'

'And she will.'

Beckett let Ryan and Esposito rush forward, each one taking hold of Kali's arms and wrestling her to the ground, not caring at all that they were nearly body slamming her against the freezing, unforgiving tile floor in order to subdue her. Beckett holstered her weapon, looked at the steel bands around Sascha's wrists. The woman was a mess - her shoulder was a raw and bloody mess, her torso bruised, her lip split and as puffy as her eye, but the other eye that was darting around like a wild animal was clear, if dilated with abject fear.

She stripped off her jacket, wrapped it around Sascha's shaking shoulders, then glanced over to see Montgomery telling the paramedics via the radio they were needed on the double. With a gentle, maternal touch she caressed Sascha's face as she saw the woman begin to shake from her body being in such a state of flux.

'Sascha, it's over. You're safe now.'


	34. Tip of the Crazy Iceberg

The paramedics wasted no time in getting into the basement of the factory; Beckett didn't even bother to question it when a very familiar face showed up as she tried to keep Sascha on her feet - or foot rather, as she'd realized Sascha's ankle was at best sprained and at worst shattered - and conscious despite her overwhelmed systems.

'Dave, Jayla, what are you doing here?'

'We were the closest bus to the call-out,' Jayla replied in her cartoon voice that was amazingly soothing to her charges. 'And Dave said he recognized your call sign, knows the case you and Lanie have been working on.'

'F-fuh-riends...of...yours?' Sascha managed to get out, unsure how to feel at the sight of their instruments and the gurney they'd wheeled in.

'Yes, they are, Sascha and they are going to take great care of you, okay?' Beckett flicked her eyes at Dave and he subtly moved away while Jayla helped Sascha sit down on the gurney to apply a field dressing to her shoulder. 'Her friends are with Officer Watkins.'

'Understood.'

'Any idea how bad things are?'

'She's got trauma to her left ankle, facial injuries, maybe has some fractured ribs.' Dave paused. 'Her shoulder took the worst of it. Kate, she- it looks like she was slicing her shoulder with a scalpel like she was scoring a pot roast.'

The sickness rose in Beckett's throat but she forced it back. There was time for that later. 'Where are you taking her, your house?'

'No, George Washington Memorial. It's closest. They've already been notified and will have a crack team standing by. Cam George took Jayla's call at the desk. This was in her pocket.' Dave passed the detective the Samsung phone in its chipper blue-and-silver gel case. 'She had it in her back pocket. Figured you might need that for your evidence log.'

'Right.' That was a huge chunk, she thought, as the time, date and GPS stamp would offer conclusive proof of Kali's little hiding spot. She saw Jayla glance their way, give a nod to signal that Sascha was ready for transportation to the ambulance, and moved to stroke Sascha's hair.

'Sascha, these paramedics, their names are Dave Robbins and Jayla Amirmoez. They are going to take you to the hospital, and they will fix you up.'

Beckett felt the slight nod of the woman's head before Jayla gently nudged her out of the way to wheel the gurney out. With a short sigh, she looked around as the CSU team milled about to do their job. The rest of the team had gone topside when Montgomery himself had slapped cuffs on Kali and perp-walked her to a waiting black-and-white, the Ry-Sposito monster following like an honour guard. She hit the radio button on the SWAT-comm - damn those things were handy - to raise Adam.

'Detective Brennan, you there?'

'Go for Brennan,' he replied.

'Dave and Jayla are bringing Sascha out.' She relayed the list of injuries Dave had reported to her, knowing that they were probably a fraction of what the doctors would find. 'You need to make sure they keep it together long enough to get Sascha in the ambulance.

'Miss Watson, Mister Keane-'

Tommy's nerves went to vapour. 'Oh God-'

'She's alive, but she is in really rough shape. THe paramedics are red-lining her to Saint Vincent's. Only one of you can ride with her.'

'Tommy, you go,' Emily said without hesitation; sensing the woman's control was slipping, Watkins put her hand on her shoulder. 'We'll follow behind the ambulance.'

Adam nodded, then listened on his radio. 'Emily, I need you to go with Officer Watkins now Esposito's team, they're down the block a little bit. They want you to confirm the woman in custody is the same who approached you at the restaurant.'

With Emily occupied, Adam turned to Tommy. 'The paramedics are bringing Sascha out and given the way we all saw Emily break down when Kali was on the phone in the cop shop, it's better she not see Sascha like this.'

Tommy nodded silently, sickness grinding a hole in his stomach while he waited, waited, waited until he saw the stretcher coming out of the building. The body was covered with a bright yellow blanket and multiple IVs were strung up on the pole. Tommy sprinted over, wanted to vomit in horror when he saw the beating his beautiful woman had taken.

'Oh, sweetheart,' he murmured, trying to keep his voice low since he knew Sascha would fight the drugs, but it was pointless - Tommy could see his darling girl was trying so hard to stay awake regardless. 'Sascha, Sascha, sweetheart it's Tommy, I'm here my love.'

'Tom...my.'

'Yes, my love, my brave darling girl, I'm right her.' Tommy saw her try to smile, poke her hand out from under the blanket covering the stretcher. He touched her fingertips, then kissed the bloody and torn-up knuckles feverishly. 'Oh, sweetie. My sweet, sweet Sascha, what happened here?'

'K...K...she...tuh...but...love...you...Em-mee...t ...too.'

'Is she okay in the head?' Tommy asked frantically, and Jayla nodded briskly.

'She never lost consciousness and has has no blown pupils but she needs attention now.'

'No...go...way?' Sascha asked pitifully.

'Of course not, my love.'

'Em...ee...too?'

'Sascha!' Emily couldn't help it - she burst into tears, though how she had enough left in her for tears at all was amazing even to herself, as she saw her friend, remembered the last time she'd seen her they'd had their stupid fight. 'Sascha, it's me, I got your text, I showed it to the police and they came and found you.'

'My...my he...hero,' Sascha muttered. 'St...t...upi-id...g-girl...sh...'

'I know it was stupid girl shit and I promise I will do my best never to

'Me...too...c-co...min?'

Emily nodded, gave Sascha's forehead a little kiss. 'I'm going with the officer, because only Tommy can ride with you in the ambulance, okay?'

'Beck...it?'

'No, not Beckett.' Adam stepped closer. 'Her name is Officer Evelyn Watkins and I learned from her that Tommy's producer is her older brother.'

'Hear that, Sascha?' Emily petted her friend's head gingerly. 'It's Josh's sister, she's one of the cops who saved you.'

'Whee...wan...wanna...sleep now.'

With that Sascha conked out as Dave and Jayla loaded her into the ambulance, Tommy at her side. Adam and Emily watched the ambulance disappear down the street with its lights and sirens going full blast. He turned to her, saw the tears silently pouring down her cheeks. 'Emily, my senior officer told me that when they found Sascha, she was trying to choke Kali, despite all her injuries.'

'Of course she was.' Emily gave a little laugh. 'Sascha will complain about her pain and just barrel through it. She bitches while she works, as it were.'

Adam nodded, steered Emily towards Watkins who waited by the black and white, gave them the information about where Sascha was being taken. Watkins flipped on her lights and zipped off in the same direction as the ambulance; Adam watched them go before he headed over to the black and white where Kali was shackled at both wrists and ankles, and Ryan was keeping his weapon trained on her.

'Sascha is on her way to the hospital, with Dave and his partner Jayla.'

'It's Jah-eh-lah, not Jay-lah,' Esposito absently corrected him, 'she's Persian.'

'Cool. How is our customer?'

'Shut the fuck up, do you think I'd seriously _pay_ to be in your company?' Kali spat, glaring icy daggers at them all. 'You know I won't be going to prison, right? I'm not guilty of anything.'

'Then what do you call the death of five people, including a cop?' Adam asked her, sincerely intrigued to hear her answer.

'Fun.'

'Wow.' The epithet slipped out before Ryan could stop himself, yet received no reprisal for it from the others. Probably, he thought, because they were all thinking the same thing. 'I can't wait until Beckett and K-Pow get you into Interview.'


	35. Discovery of the Trophy Room

'Detective Esposito!'

The trio of Adam, Ryan and Esposito turned, saw Avery standing by the doorway they'd stormed into the disused factory. The normally olive complexion the female officer sported was now visibly pasty, even in the red and blue swirl of cop-car lights. 'We need your down here, there's something you have to see.'

'Why me?' Esposito asked, sincerely baffled; Avery fought to look casual while trying not to blush.

'I wasn't privy to that, but Montgomery and Beckett insisted you go down with them.'

Esposito nodded, glanced at Adam and Ryan. 'You guys alright with that?'

'Orders are orders, besides, I'm sure our guest of honour will keep us on our toes,' Adam replied, knowing it woudl make Kali hiss and sputter like a boiling pot of chilli.

'Yeah, bro, besides, you were the one who figured out where they were in that giant place.' Ryan gestured toward the factory, then wrinkled his eyebrows together. 'How did you figure that out, exactly?'

'Tell you later,' Esposito said over his shoulder, dashing off towards the door of the warehouse that was now lit up with the blue and red wash of light from the cruisers up and down the block. He passed through the first floor, through what had to be the entire CSU team of Manhattan, who were photographing and tagging like maniacs, down into the basement where he saw Montgomery overseeing the analysis of the principle crime scene.

'Javier, it's a god-damn mess,' he said sadly. 'Beckett's down the hallway a little, and she wants to see you.'

'Where?'

'Door marked Women's Locker Room.'

Esposito nodded, turned around to find the door one more space down the hallway. When he shoved open the door, his blood froze.

The room had been converted into bedroom space; all signs lockers had ever been in there were long gone. The walls were Pepto-Bismal pink, with a small desk in the corner upon which rested a state of the art MacBook Pro. There was a double bed with a duvet shades deeper than the walls shoved into the corner; on the wall above was an oblong mirror underneath a set of wooden letters that spelled out 'Queen Kali'. A shelving unit between each desk and bed had trade books of all kinds of subjects ranging from chemistry and art to engine repair to sports and culinary refinement. It was probably how Kali could talk to her prey in bars, find out what they were interested in and be a knowledge new friend, the last those people ever made.

In the middle of the room stood Beckett, and Esposito had to blink when he saw her face - tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at the wall opposite the bed.

'Detec-'

'Javi, look at the wall.'

Esposito looked, and he felt his gorge rise. He'd been a cop for twenty-eight years, but this fairly did in his well-seasoned senses.

There on the wall were shelves, each one home to a picture in a wooden frame with brightly painted letters glued into the bottom right corner, the kind children would give to a parent or teacher as a gift. Each picture was one of Kali's nineteen victims, the name spelled out carefully, the picture a surveillance photo Kali had taken. Beside each frame were hourglasses with a neatly etched time figure on them, but the second item varied a little - they were small bottles of ink.

'What is this,' he breathed, heard Kate give a little sniffle.

'Those are her victims, the time of how long it took her to kill them on the hourglasses and...and the ink that she used to give them those tattoos we found. Look.'

Esposito followed the point of her finger, to shelf number seventeen where he saw the picture of Will Newman walking his kid to school. 'Jesus Christ in heaven,' he muttered. 'This...this is insane.'

'She won't skate on this, not now,' Beckett said.

'Kate, why are you crying?'

'I...look at who she targeted for her final victim.'

He moved closer, squinted at the picture. 'That's the same picture as Will Newman's death photo, it's him and...' he trailed off, whipped back to see Beckett's miserable expression. 'She was going to kill his kid.'

'She isn't going to get to him or anyone else.'

'No, she isn't,' Esposito agreed, realizing that like him, there was only one thing could put the equally seasoned Beckett into such an emotional state on a crime scene. 'We caught her and the only place she is going is a quick layover in jail before she reaches her final destination in the ninth circle of hell. You know the one reserved for fucked-up psycho-bitches, murdering bastards and the guys that decided to pull the plug on the _Havana Hellcats_ game series.'

It made Beckett laugh, then breathe deeply as her cellphone rang. 'Beckett,' she answered.'

'Detective, this is Doctor Ritter at George Washington Memorial, we have a patient here whose family is asking for you, a Sascha Russell?'

'Yes, I'll be there shortly.'

'Inform the nurses at the ER reception, they've been instructed to pass you through to the OR waiting lounge.'

'Got it.'

Beckett hung up, knuckled at her eyes exactly like RJ would have. 'Emily and Tommy are asking for me, I don't know if that's good or not.'

'Beckett, do yourself a favour and call your family.'

'No.' She shook her head fiercely. 'I can't break yet, I can't. She will know and use it on me.'

'Then suck it up princess,' Esposito replied, using one of his own favourite phrases most commonly used on Trini. 'Take my boy with you and go make sure that Sascha doesn't get added to Kali's points total.'

* * *

The ER of George Washington hospital was abuzz with noise and motion when Beckett walked in with Ryan as her second. She knew that while Kali might not be scared of him, she wouldn't disrespect him, and Beckett just couldn't handle the notion of the pack of reporters hounding her the moment she left her car for the precinct doors. They would be putting things together now, Tommy Keane suddenly appearing in New York; in the day and age of instantaneous location via GPS and photos being tagged on social media the rumour mill would be working overtime.

'No wonder Cam likes working in this place,' Ryan commented, hoping the banal observation would keep them both steady. He'd gotten his turn at seeing Kali's trophy room and wanted to scream in rage when he'd seen that Kali's next planned victim was an eight-year-old little boy, hardly older than Mallory. 'Must remind him of being back in combat.'

'Every society has its wars both political and social,' Beckett reminded him as she headed for the nurses' station and slapped her badge against the glass. 'NYPD, I'm Detective Beckett, this is Detective Ryan. We-'

'Doctor Ritter said to expect you,' the nurse replied, glancing up from her computer screen as she keyed in patient data. 'Go down this hallway, follow the green stripe to the elevators. Get off at floor four, and head for the nurses' station there, it's being overseen tonight by Nurse George. He will be able to give you what you need.'

'Thank you.'

'Some days, it falls into place,' Ryan murmured; they headed off following the green stripe on the floor to the elevators like the nurse told them. When they arrived at the fifth floor, he felt a burst of relief to see the small frame of Cam George by the nurses station. He turned at their swift movements down the hallway, gave them his full attention when he recognized who it was.

'Detectives,' he greeted them. 'Sascha is still in surgery with Doctor Ritter but he authorized me to speak to you as his medical designate.'

'Understood.' Beckett stuffed her badge in her pocket. 'How is she?'

'She's tougher than she looks man. Reminds me a lot of my wife, and sister-in-law. The shoulder took the worst of it, which is what they are working on now, and when she is out of surgery, after she is done in recovery she will probably be able to give you a statement.'


	36. Push of the Button

While Ryan went with Cam down the hallway to the family lounge, Beckett hung back to give Montgomery an update; though Karpowski was her captain, Montgomery had requested any updates on Sascha be given directly to him since he would be fielding any questions from the media. Beckett paced back and forth in short circles near the nurses station, a nervous habit more than an impatient one.

'Sir, Sascha is still in surgery, what do you need us to do more?'

'Who is with you?'

'Ryan, sir.'

On the other end of the phone, she heard Montgomery sigh lightly. 'Ryan and Esposito in Interview against Kali would worth some coin, but I think it's better to have a woman take her on after she gets through a round with the hippo.'

'Not the captain, sir?'

'No,' Montgomery replied. 'Karpowski will be the clean up hitter, as it were. Kali needs to see fresh faces on this so she won't try to warp it in her brain that Karpowski is her nemesis or some such bullshit.'

'Understood sir. I am at Washington Memorial so I will be there in about thirty minutes or so,' Beckett added with a quick glance at her watch.

'Good. Tell Ryan his job is to stay there, that Watkins is needed back at the precinct.'

She hesitated only a moment, hoping she didn't sound insubordinate. 'Sir, Watkins' older brother has a personal connection to Sascha's family. Are we sure the sister and boyfriend wouldn't be happier having someone they mutually know keeping an official watch on them?'

'I understand, but Sascha is also recovering from an attack on a female criminal. She would probably feel more secure with a male detective who was part of the team that helped take her attacker all the way down.' Montgomery paused; Beckett could almost hear him frowning over the connection. 'Kate, I get that you think Ryan will feel shunted but-'

'You have a feeling sir?'

'Yeah, I do. That cop itch you just can't ignore when you meet someone who gives you the vibe.'

'Alright sir. I'll send Watkins over, tell him to stay here.' As Beckett was all too familiar with that vibe herself, she knew better than to interfere with it.

She dragged a hand over her face, headed down to the lounge where she found Ryan sitting with Emily, Watkins with Tommy. Made sense, Beckett thought. She cleared her throat and all four heads snapped around to look at her. 'Detective Ryan, Montgomery has asked me to return to the station to interview our suspect.'

'Suspect?' Emily's voice rose and fell like a yo-yo as she got to her feet. 'You walked in on this bitch slicing up my sister like a Sunday pot-roast and you have the audacity tell me she is only a _suspect_?'

'Miss Watson,' Ryan replied in his soothing way, the same one that had rocked his children to sleep when they were babies in a fussy state. 'Our jargon is to refer to anyone as a suspect to prevent prejudice towards a case that might result in the wrong person being arrested. Detective Beckett was not diminishing our focus on Kali Wenthram, it's simply a habit for most cops.'

'Oh.'

Beckett nodded, saw Montgomery's instinct was right - Emily needed a big brother type right now, a trusted male authority figure to put her mind at ease after her friend's attack. Rather than speaking directly to Emily, she turned to Watkins. 'Officer, you're coming with me. Karpowski and Montgomery's orders.'

'Sure. Tommy, you need anything just text me, I'll do my best for you,' Watkins reassured the man; it was hard for Ryan to remember at that moment the man five feet away from him was the same man Honey-Milk drooled over every time they watched _Home of the Brave_. His eyes were bloodshot from weeping and too much coffee, his shoulders hunched and drawn while he fiddled with the gold ring on the chain around his neck.

'Thanks, Evie. We'll be in touch soon,' he replied roughly.

When Watkins was gone, Ryan took the chair between Tommy and Emily she'd vacated. 'We have enough evidence to try Kali for four murders and the attempted murder of Sascha. She used poison in all five cases, which means it's premeditated. The psych profile tells us that she feels no guilt or compunction about who she killed, nor did she go out looking for a special kind of person.'

'An omnivore,' Emily said hollowly. 'I heard one of the detectives use that phrase. Tornados are omnivores, too and that's what this filthy...ugh, I can't even use the word because I can hear Sascha in my head - respect words Emmy-boo, they're your most powerful friends in the world.'

'That sounds like her, exactly,' Tommy chuckled, then looked at Ryan. 'We met when I was working on _Home of the Brave_, she was my German dialect coach. She's got a a doctorate in linguistics, and she does voice-over work too. She'd always tell me that you can hurt someone for a lot longer with an ugly name than you can with a fist in the face.'

'Sounds like she would know,' Ryan commented.

'She's got a trucker mouth on her like no one else I know, and I thought I knew a lot having worked in a Manhattan bistro.' Emily rolled her eyes as she shook her head. 'She'd have a creative name or two for Kali Wenthram.'

As she appeared to be fairly lucid now, Ryan turned ever so slightly. 'Miss Watson, are you able to make a full official statement at this time?'

'Yeah. Now that I know she's okay. I- oh, I'm sorry, Tommy, I don't mean to sound so self-important and-'

'Emily, you two are sisters, I know how much you mean to each other,' Tommy laughed, his first one since he'd gotten Emily near hysterical call in Denver how many hours ago. 'You don't have to justify how you feel to me.'

'Mister Keane?'

Tommy was on his feet in a flash as the man in pale green scrubs walked into the room, face sober and unreadable. 'Doctor Ritter, is- what's going on, is Sascha okay?'

'Miss Russell will be fine. There were no nerves or tendons severed in her shoulder, but we are concerned about the ankle, as it suffered multiple abuses.'

'What about her face?'

'Our plastic surgeon has given an assessment. She won't require any surgery on her face, just quite a bit of ice and rest, perhaps a resetting of her nasal cartilage if breathing is difficult. She was also fortunately enough to have good teeth and has not suffered any dental loss or damage.'

'Small miracles,' Emily murmured.

'We ran a toxicology panel when Sascha was first brought to the ER,' Ritter went on, moving into the room, knowing what he had to say next would be a bombshell. 'We detected something else quite vital to her ongoing health.'

'Oh God.' Emily felt her legs weaken; her fingers curled into a tight fist of talons that dug into Ryan's bicep through his overcoat. 'Oh, Jesus, is she okay?'

'Sascha's in perfect health.' After a pause, Ritter looked directly at Tommy and added, 'So is the baby.'

'Baby?' Tommy blinked, felt his chest tighten then bloom bright with hope. 'Sascha is pregnant? How...how much?'

'According to her hormone levels in her blood panel, about seven to eight weeks,' Ritter replied.

'That means the night before I went to Denver...' Tommy turned, grabbed the now weeping Emily into his arms. 'Em, did you hear?'

'Yes, I did. No wonder she went bat shit on me,' Emily warbled, 'it wasn't just her missing you, she didn't know she's dealing with...with preggo hormones!'

'Doctor.' Ryan felt his brain go ice cold with rage, something he was certain was reflecting in his eyes. 'Is there any chance she will lose the baby?'

'Not at this time. If Sascha can survive the beating she took from whomever did this to her, she is certainly capable of carrying the foetus to term and having a healthy baby.'

'Good.' He turned to Sascha and Tommy. 'I need to call my superior officer, please excuse me a moment.'


	37. Turn of the Tables A

The precinct was a buzzing hive of noise and light, word having gotten out about bringing Kali into custody. Esposito could feel the uniforms' excitement at being part of such a major homicide bust that wrapped successfully. He wanted to remind them all that homicide investigative success on this one was a relative term as Kali had killed four people including a cop, abducted and tortured a fifth and was planning to do all of that to Will Newman's son.

The trophy room had sickened him, so much that when he'd gotten back to the precinct, he'd ducked into the men's room to call home and tell Meredeth, he would need the most comfy of comfort foods followed up with the dirtiest of dirty sex she could conjure for him. Meredeth has simply used that sweet, smooth angelic voice of hers and told him he would come home to whatever he wanted, food, body or heart.

It had given him the boost he needed, or at least a partial one - what Esposito really wanted was to hug all his children close to him, hear Max babble on about what he learned on _Dis-cov-ah-wee Shannel_ about bugs or fish, listen to Leo wax poetic about spending time with Violet, hear Trini's ridiculously awful singing and Tessi's laugh so much like her mother's it was frightening. And he was self-aware enough that the knew when he did so, the weight of the last week would crush him like a tonne of bricks, but that his Danish angel, his saving grace and love of his life, would be there to pull him back out of the wreckage.

The only ones who didn't look positively orgasmic with joy were Avery, Toh and Watkins. Instead they were huddled in the breakroom, looking exhausted and drawn over cups of coffee, tea for Watkins. It was the young bride-to-be that looked up when Esposito came in in search of caffeine, let out a long breath.

'Detective, we didn't think anyone would miss us for a few minutes,' she said in a shaky voice.

'Majority of those dimwitted assholes are treating Adam like the guy about to fuck the prom queen,' Avery said in a low, tight voice, the kind that reminded Esposito of Meredeth about to blow her stack. She sipped black coffee, hissed out her breath through her teeth. 'Then they say that Beckett versus Kali is the best kind of girl on girl action there is.'

'Morons,' Toh agreed. 'Figured it's just be easiest to hang out here until the captain comes by, gives us all what-for.'

'You're not wrong. Captain Karpowski's emotionally compromised on this case and she'll go up for review.'

'Up for review?' Watkins looked dumbstruck. 'Why? She led the team that resulted in the capture of a violent criminal.'

'She'll have to answer for Newman, it's SOP whenever a man goes down in the line of duty.'

'But he didn't, so what would they want with her?'

Before Esposito could give them an answer, his phone rang; when he saw Ryan's name on the display, he picked up stepped away for a moment. 'Hey bro, what-'

'Have they started on that fucking bitch yet?'

Esposito could hear it in Ryan's voice, the rage and anger, and knew there was only one thing in the world when his partner was in cop mode that could make him sound like he'd just won a fistfight with Lucifer himself. 'No, she's still in holding.'

'I want a crack at her.'

'You'll get your turn.'

'I want her first.'

'No.' Esposito used the same tone he used on his children when they were trying to wheedle something from him. 'Ryan, you go in there hot to make a kill, that will just shut her down more. She feeds off that, you know that bro! Why do you think she likes to cause this kind of chaos?'

He heard Ryan exhale heavily through his nose, could perfectly picture him shaking his head. Ryan was the right amount of unpredictable a cop needed to be but when it came to pregnant women in jeopardy - and this was not the first one they'd rescued, either - Ryan was reliable as an atomic clock. He would be steaming until he got to the precinct, right up until he got into the box with the ass-hat who'd done the mama-to-be wrong. Then he would go volcanic, slowly and slowly building up the pressure until he blew his stack and the mope was sucker-punched by the sudden assault.

Esposito had been Ryan's partner for over two decades and he knew his bro as well as he knew his wife; the more he thought about it, the more he realized that despite Beckett and Adam's combined prowess in the box, they wouldn't get her to crack with Ryan.

'Javi, you there?'

'Sorry, bro. How far out are you?'

'I'm at Lexington and Thirty-Three.'

'Alright.' Esposito scrubbed his hand over his face, formulating the plan in his brain. 'Alright, when you get here, text me. I'll make sure I'm not in the box with her.'

'Good.'

He hung up, and forgetting all about his coffee, he marched straight to Karpowski's office where Montgomery, Karpowski herself were conferencing with Adam and Beckett. Esposito wasn't offended in the slightest, since he knew that Beckett and Adam were handling the brunt of the interrogation. Could it still be called that when everyone knew they had their killer?

'Excuse me, sir.'

'Come in Esposito, we are discussing strategy to get Kali to crack.'

'That might be unnecessary. I just got off the phone with Ryan, he's on his way back from the hospital with something he can use in Interview. Sascha Russell is seven weeks pregnant.'

'Oh man.' Beckett closed her eyes, covered them with her palm. 'Are we gonna need to worry about him?'

'That's a silly question, Detective, you know how he is with pregnant women who'd been hurt,' Karpowski reminded her. 'The better question would be, how do we use it so we get Kali on her heels to get everything we need to ship her off to the darkest hole we can find.'

'What if we play her, the way she likes to play?' Adam suggested, and considered it a sign of his professional growth that he didn't turn cherry red when all eyes turned towards him. 'I mean, she likes the theatrical, so why not use that against her? Remember that case from a year or two ago with the dead magician Beckett, and you and Castle got the guy to confess with having the twin brother dress up like a ghost?'

'Yeah, the Zalman Drake case.' Beckett remembered it vividly since it had fallen right near so many important dates for her friends' personal lives - Jojo, Heddie and Duncan's birthdays, Lanie and Dave's anniversary, Robina's birthday too. 'Given her little stunt, making it look like Daphne's cousin Laurel was involved, it was all a way just to fuck with us so why don't we give that back in spades?'

'What do you have in mind, Detective?'

'Remember what we did when we went to see Sean Delancy's execution? How we made sure he saw all those lives he tried to destroy with his drug-ring activities? What if we bring her up, and she sees people who would be able to idea her? The bartender from where Sascha went missing, Emily herself, the clerk from the store where Tyson McKinley went missing, Daphne Newman? I'm sure they'd all be happy to give a little back given how much Kali turned them upside down.'

'Karpowski, how much longer can we hold Kali before she'll start to whine for a lawyer or complain about being denied her rights?' Montgomery turned to the captain. 'Or do we have to worry about that with her?'

'Kali's a braggart and she wouldn't hide behind someone else. If she were, she'd be hiding in plain sight like with the stolen Laurel Turner ID.'

'Good. Go make the calls, tell them what we're going to do. We will meet here in half an hour.'


	38. Dinner of Distractions

'Mami, why is everyone coming here for supper-time?'

Meredeth looked at Trini as she scooped fresh made salsa into a bowl for the taco feast they were preparing. 'Because, Trini, our coppers are working hard and this is the way we all stay sane and don't worry that things might go wrong on a hard case.'

'Daddy's the best, nothing will go wrong.'

'Trini, I sincerely hope you are right.' Meredeth had to shake her head; her youngest daughter sounded so much like her daddy when she was convinced of something. She remembered when Rosalita and Alejandro came for supper the first time, when she and Esposito had only been dating, and he'd reminded her she was an amazing chef and they would have a lovely dinner together. 'This one is a toughie, and they need all their smarts to get the bad guy to confess.'

'Girl, Mami,' Leo piped up from where he was putting out trviets for the hot dishes that would be coming out of the warming oven. 'It's a bad girl doing all this stuff.'

'I will never do anything bad like that, and neither will Tessi,' Trini declared as her sister, Max and Tortuga wandered into the kitchen, the latter having just woken up from a nap. 'Right Tessi?'

'Right what?'

'You will never ever do anything a bad girl does.'

'No, of course not,' Tessi declared, trying not to think of how devious she'd felt when she'd kissed Dell after he'd given her the plastic ring after his birthday party three years ago. That didn't count because that was Dell and they loved each other. 'I heard the older girls at school say they were being bad because they watched scary movies when their mamis and daddies weren't home or because they got to have a glass of wine at Thanksgiving. Does that count?'

'No, that's just part of growing up,' Meredeth replied; her oldest was already a cop through and through like her father. Esposito had always had a very clear cop's sense of what was right and wrong and while all their kids possessed that, Tessi had articularly taken it to heart. 'When I was ten years old, I thought I was a bad girl when my babysitter let me watch a scary movie with her on TV and I didn't get nightmares afterwards.'

'Mami! You bad girl!' Max gasped before collapsing in giggles, causing Leo to roll his eyes.

'Max Power, Mami's not a bad girl and she even has doodles on her skin, just like Shane!'

Meredeth had to laugh at that one - her children were fascinated by her tattoos, as the decorations their friends' mamis had ran to body piercings more than artwork. 'And what have I told you all?'

'Hair grows out and holes grow in but tattoos are forever,' Tessi sang, then added, 'so if we want one, we have to be at least eighteen so we can decide for ourselves if we want it.'

'Exactly.'

'But we will never do that,' Trini said in a rush; she didn't like needles when she went to the doctors so it was baffling to her why she would voluntarily let someone poke at her in the name of looking cool to others. 'New talking stuff please.'

'Mami, can we have a chef's taster taco?' Leo asked as Meredeth pulled the warming pots of shredded spicy chicken and seasoned refried beans from the oven. 'Daddy says that is how we be good hosts, so we don't look greedy in front of our guests.'

'Daddy is not wrong,' she agreed, pulled a little tray of three crunchy tacos and one softie from the oven, placed each on a small plate before setting the microwave timer. 'When that goes off, you can have your tacos.'

'Mami, I think we have everything ready.' Trini looked at the table. 'We have cheese and sour cream, packo-de-Guido-'

'Pico de gallo, Trini,' Max piped up.

'Right that stuff, and lettuce, and the meat and not-meat fillings! Now all we need are the guests!'

As if on cue, the doorbell went off and Tortuga forgot all about crumbs All it took was Meredeth using her name once to have the black puppy sitting like a good girl before she opened the door to Castle, RJ and Jojo. 'Hey guys.'

'Hi Meredeth, we brought dessert!' Jojo held up the box with pride. 'They are called coyotes!'

'Coyotas, with an A Jojo,' RJ laughed as he stepped forward to give Meredeth a hug. 'Daddy said that we are hanging here for supper tonight!'

'You are, and for dessert and movies too.'

'Hooray! Is it a real-people or a cartoon movie?'

'Better, we are watching a Muppets double feature,' Meredeth said dramatically and both of her young guests gasped with delight. 'Why don't you go see the chefs in the kitchen?'

'Okay!'

The children scampered off, leaving Castle with Meredeth. He looked at her, saw the tightness of her mouth, the worried light in her eyes. 'Hey, you doing okay?'

'Yeah, it's just...it's not like other cases,' she whispered, surprised suddenly at the tears swamping her throat. 'It's not like other cases, I mean a cop was killed. What if-'

'Mere, none of that, okay? None of that.' Castle put his hand on her shoulder, gave it a firm squeeze. Much like him, it was rare for that worried side to show through because they knew their cops could handle themselves. But every now and then there was a major case that made that worry poke its ugly little demon head through. 'We're here to have a night of tacos and movies, and enjoying the company of friends and our kids being awesome little people.'

'They are pretty awesome kids,' Meredeth agreed as she forced the tears back. 'Even if your son is trying to date my daughter.'

As if to prove the point, Trini and RJ appeared out of the kitchen holding hands with mile-wide grins. 'Mami guess what!' Trini chirped.

'What, baby?'

'RJ said we get to have our very own date night!'

Meredeth laughed; leave it to Trini to distract her from worrying about her husband. 'Your very own date right,' she repeated, and RJ nodded enthusiastically.

'Oh, yes Meredeth, just like when Mumum and Daddy go out, or Shane and Alexis! My Trini is coming over to my house and I'm making her a nice supper and we are gonna watch a movie together.'

'I see, and where will your flat-mates be?'

'Uhhh, what's that?'

'Your parents and your sister.'

'Oh, they will be there too, but it's a special night for me and Trini,' RJ reassured Meredeth.

'Did you think to ask the young lady's mother?' Castle asked him, which had RJ pausing once more.

'Uhhh...no, no I didn't. Meredeth can Trini come over for date night?'

'Well-'

'Please?'

'Tell you what,' Meredeth told them, 'if Trini's daddy says it's okay, then it's okay with me.'

'Whee! Daddy always says yes to fun things!' Trini wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. 'You're the best mami ever!'

The children scampered off, leaving Meredeth and Castle to laugh a little. 'Okay, I give, you're right.'

'Wow, so nice to hear that from a woman once in a while. Beckett always wins, because, well most of the time she's always right and the other times it's just easier to go along with it because those are the times she's usually suffering from three little letters that scare the shit out of grown men.'

'Ah, gotcha. Thanks either way though.'

'Don't worry, we're all going to get calls tonight saying they've got this crackpot bitch wrapped up and she will never breath natural air again.'

'I know we'll get that phone call too, it's a matter of the wait.' Meredeth dragged her hands through her hair, listened to the sounds of the kids in the kitchen. When there was a large clatter followed by Jojo's shrill squeal and Max's innocent little 'whoopsie', she actually thanked the higher powers looking out for her she had these angels to distract her from worrying just how far Kali Wenthram had crawled under her husband's skin.


	39. Turn of the Tables B

Kali sighed as she sat in the holding cell, thoroughly annoyed by the current circumstances. How could she have been so fucking stupid? She was always careful, she was always sure to clean out her victims' pockets to take away anything that could have lead the cops to her doorstep. That's what she got for not listening to the angel on her shoulder telling her that she should have just slit Sascha's throat straight away.

Still, this would be a fun round to win. She wondered if she would get bonus points if she took down another cop. Will Newman had been fun, Kali mused as she scratched below her navel where she had the fresh tattoo to mark his turn in her game. On the one hand she could see why his wife would leave him for another man or two but at the same time the moves he had were pretty damn good.

Well, every good game had a jail time square, no? Monopoly, Grape Escape, Snakes and Ladders. Her detractors assumed she had no compassion, no sense of value for human life but really she valued it a great deal. She needed just the right people to play with, the kind of people no one would miss, the stupid and the selfishly self-pitying kind. Will Newman had certainly fallen into that category, there hadn't been a single mention of him in _The Ledger_ at all. Or maybe those stupid pricks who pretended to protect the city with their pathetic ideas of power and force were trying to keep things under wraps.

Whatever, they wouldn't be able to pin anything on her. Between Sascha being drunk and drugged and incapacitated she would be less than stellar as a witness. Who would believe a woman with her brains so scrambled up like that?

Kali turned bored eyes towards the noise outside the cage, where two buff specimens were standing watch. If she'd been in full gaming mode she'd have gone for the one on the right, whose nameplate on the uniform read 'LeBlanc', he looked like he would be great fun to play with. Maybe he'd even have become one of her heart tattoos, just like Will Newman.

She perked up a little when she saw the petite, busty uniform with the steely eyes approach the steel wire doors. This one would be fun too, this one named 'Watkins'; maybe she would be the cop she tagged once this little wrinkle had been ironed out. 'Officer,' she replied smoothly, in an almost bored tone, 'you come to make me an honest woman?'

'You're not my type,' Watkins replied flatly. She pulled out the set of manacles to attach to Kali's still-cuffed wrists. 'On your feet.'

'So bossy.'

'Now,' she snapped, and Kali complied with the tiniest of smirks on her face. Watkins kept her eyes cold as she could, even as her insides went to jelly. 'You're coming to Interrogation.'

'Ooo, will you be there to spank me, Officer?'

'No talking.'

The manacles fastened around her ankles, Kali toddled forward in tiny steps with Watkins on her left and LeBlanc on her right from the holding area through to the Homicide bullpen. She saw the officers and uniforms all running around, some ushering various people to chairs by desks; Kali only recognized the whore-bitch Newman called his wife.

'You even think about breathing on her, I'll have you on your knees.'

'Wouldn't dream of it,' Kali purred as Watkins very nearly hauled her into the interview room with its one-way glass. Inside the room, already waiting, was a young cop with strong features and a note-pad and pencil on the table before him. She waited until Watkins had fastened the manacles to the table and floor before speaking. 'Hello, handsome.'

'It's Detective Brennan,' Adam replied coldly. 'You've been informed of your rights, Miz Wenthram, are you waiving your right to counsel at this time?'

'My name isn't Wenthram,' Kali stated matter-of-factly. 'My name is Kristine Wilson.'

'And I'm Bono. Toss around your stage name all you want but our legal system will use your most common alias for your imprisonment, if not the death penalty.'

'The death penalty was abolished in New York State in two-thousand-seven, Detective. Do your homework.'

'And during the last election, it was established that the Governor of New York is allowed to make up to four special circumstances exceptions to that rule at his or her discretion. I'm betting someone who killed eighteen people, one of them a cop, will definitely make her short list.'

Kali gave a smug little smirk. 'You have nothing to prove I killed eighteen people. You don't think I'm that careless do you?'

'Well, we found you because you got cocky and decided to hang on to Sascha Russell. She's fine by the way. Maybe you're not the criminal mastermind we thought you were after all.'

There was a flare of insult in her eyes, the first change - however small - in her demeanour and Adam saw his chance to widen the crack. 'I doubt you're on the same level as, say a Hannibal Lecter or Jack the Ripper. Those guys knew how to cover their tracks. You, you'll just be written off as another female crazy who got her kicks from going on an urban safari and hunting the biggest game she could find. Oh wait.'

Adam nudged open the file in front of him, pretended to search for details though he knew them all by heart. 'No, you go after the sick and the lame. Louise Kingman was exhausted after working all night and she was more worried about her feet being so sore. Tyson McKinley had other things on his mind like picking up milk for his wife after she cussed him out before he'd gone to work that night. Will, well we all know what happened at home before you got to him on the street and Farrah Thurman, she had just been fired, literally kicked to the street when your paths crossed. As for Sascha Russell though...'

He trailed off as he closed the file, looked up at Kali. 'I think you saw how strong a person she was, that she wasn't so broken up from her fight with her best friend that she'd buy your little act. I think you saw in her finally a worthy opponent to your so-called game.'

'She was nothing,' Kali sneered in reply, 'a blubbering tub of disgusting fat and self-pity. I did her a favour.'

'Oh, so you're admitting that you went to the pub with the intention of ending Sascha Russell's life?' Adam felt himself gain the upper-hand when he saw Kali's mouth work up and down as she tried to find the answer. 'Did you know her partner was a famous movie star? Is that why you went after her, maybe thought to hold her for ransom so Tommy Keane would pay up and you would be able to take off for some hot little island where no one would find you?'

'You were getting so frightfully dull and boring,' Kali replied, the heat from her eyes gone now, the icy calm back in place. 'How was it supposed to be a game when there was no challenge?'

'You played well enough with no challenge eleven years ago?'

'Who says that was me?' Kali smiled an evil little smile. 'You only needed someone to pin it on and I was a handy scapegoat so that low life loser who really did the crimes could cut a deal.'

'Nope, wrong-o,' Adam smiled right back, then because he felt like the situation needed it, he added a little 'bzzzt' noise like the timer on _The Price is Right_. 'All roads lead to Kali Wenthram. Besides I thought this was what you wanted, the spotlight, the attention to be recognized for your gaming skills. Isn't it?'

'My gaming skills are unsurpassed, so go ahead and fling all the interview tricks around that you want. You'll never catch me.'

_Perfect_, Adam thought, and he looked down at his hands with a heavy sigh. 'You're right, you-'

The door burst open, and Esposito came barreling in. 'Dude, you're done here. Get out. Now.'


	40. Demolition of Kali

Esposito waited until Adam left, leaving the files on the table, and closed the door behind him. He sent Kali a little look he would normal reserve for mostly-naked pin-up girls. 'Sorry about that, Miz Wenthram. You know how these young detectives hard over a hot case like you.'

'You coming on to me Detective?' Kali replied, and Esposito could all but see the mask slip on as Kali shifted so the reasonably attractive body she had was as best displayed as it could be while she was shackled to the table.

'You know how it is, a detective only sees someone like you once or twice in his whole lifetime,' he neatly evaded as he took out his cuff keys. 'You're a nice girl, I don't think we need to keep you chained up like a dog, do we?'

'Not at all.'

Esposito took out the keys for the table chains, popped them loose from the cuffs. 'Those-' he pointed to her wrists and ankles '-we're going to leave in place, just you get a feel for what you put Sascha through.'

'Maybe I like it rough.'

'Nah, you're a quickie kind of girl. Which makes all of us curious as to why you kept Sascha alive for so long. I know you said it was out of boredom, but if you were bored why not just pack up and move on from New York? Why not just get Will Newman paid back and be done with it?'

'You know that rush when you play bedroom dress-up, Detective, where you aren't yourself, yet acting out your own sexual fantasies? That feeling you get where you pretend you're inside someone else?'

'No,' Esposito replied flatly. 'My lover and I don't use aliases in bed together.'

'Pity, though I must say you don't seem like the kind to be tied down to one woman.' Kali pointed to Esposito's wedding ring. 'Maybe that's your disguise, the happy husband and daddy of four who prefers to get himself all thirty-one flavours on the side.'

Esposito's insides curled into a snarling ball of hot fury that Kali knew such details of his life. 'How many times did you have sex with Will Newman before you turned him into wormfeed?'

'Twice,' Kali replied confidently. 'He's good, but I bet you're better. Wanna give it a try?'

_Not in a million fucking years lady_, Esposito thought in disgust. Rather than replying, choosing to let her think she'd gotten under his skin, Esposito opened the file to find Adam's notes inside.

_Likes to brag, doesn't realize it's incriminating herself when she gets the better of you on the surface_. Perfect, he thought, they were right on target. 'You know, my wife's pretty liberal in her attitude about body art and all that, but you would make even her broad mind reach its limits with the amount of doodles you have. What's the total number at again?'

'Eighteen. It'll be nineteen once Sascha bites the dust.'

'Didn't you hear Detective Brennan? She's fine,' Esposito said merrily. 'She'll need some therapy sure and maybe a plastic surgeon to minimize the scars on her shoulder you left but she's not going anywhere.'

'How could you possibly think that? Sascha was weak, she was such a whiny little bitch,' Kali scoffed. 'Women like her make us look revolting as a species.'

'I think you mean women like you are a disgrace to your species, but I digress. Why those particular symbols?'

'I like pretty pictures.'

'They seem rather childish though.'

It was the cue word Esposito and the others had arranged – a few seconds later act three would begin. Still, he had to make sure he set the ball so the next performer would do the hard spike; he could already see Kali's ears picking up the small commotion on the other side of the one way glass. 'You have an aptitude for art, your prison record shows you used it for therapy. Did it work?'

'Isn't it obvious?'

Esposito opened his mouth to reply when he door slammed open; he shot to his feet as Ryan stood in the doorway, glaring at them both.

'Is this how you conduct an interview with a killer, Detective,' he barked, jabbing a finger towards Esposito. 'You flirt with her like a man-whore in a bar, trying to decide if you wanna eat her out the one of the bathroom stalls or fuck her behind the club?'

'No, just trying to put the suspect-' Esposito made sure he put emphasis on the word '-feels at ease so she'd be inclined to share her motives.'

'Motives? I've got a hell of a motive for you right now.'

Ryan slammed the door, and everyone crowded into Observation knew that this part wasn't an act, the rest of it had been an act so Ryan would be allowed to go full banana sandwich without fear of reprisal for his aggressive style. He stalked over in short, choppy strides to the table, slammed a stack of papers down.

'I've just come from the hospital where Sascha Russell is in recovery from surgery. She is seven weeks pregnant. How do you like them apples, you bitch-whore?'

'Detective,' Esposito warned him, knowing Kali was loving every minute of Ryan's wrath. It was going to be a gamble, but Esposito's money was on his partner.

'What, did you stalk her, make sure you knew you took a pregnant women to get a two-for-one bonus round or something? Or did that even cross your puny little brain?'

'You're bluffing.'

'Wanna bet?'

'Yeah, I do. How the hell could someone like Sascha be pregnant?' Kali scoffed. 'She's so damn needy, her friend didn't do shit to try and stop me, to make me pay. Emily thinks she's useless and she's not wrong.'

'You're wrong, so you're dead fucking wrong lady you can't see straight.'

'Really?' Kali held up her wrists, yanked them apart free of the cuffs she'd lock-picked open. 'Your bro over there didn't notice I'd picked the locks on these cuffs. Did you really think you could outsmart me?'

'You're the bad guy, I'm a cop it's my job to take you down.'

'If you're such a big man, why don't you prove it and have a little fun with me?'

Ryan simply looked at her for three humming seconds before his chain snapped entirely. He up-ended the table with a single move, causing Kali to flinch from the noise. He advanced on her, and grabbing her at the shirt front, he rammed her pack against the wall, hauling her up so her toes just grazed the floor. His blue eyes were frozen cold as ice as he glared at her.

'Stop it!' Kali gasped with just the first twinges of fear. 'You can't do this you're a cop!'

'Watch me do it,' he growled; without a moment's hesitation he unholstered his weapon, angled the aim for just above her left eyebrow. 'There is only one bullet in this clip Kali, let's find out which slot it's hiding in.'

He pulled the hammer, then the trigger only to come up with an empty click. 'That's round one. Fifteen more to go. You having fun yet?'

'No! Let me go!'

'No? Let's try another one.'

Ryan repeated the routine three more times – one for each of her dead - watched Kali's eyes grow wider each time with the same fear her victims would have felt. 'You're the expert on fun here, Kali, isn't this a blast?'

'No! No! Help! Someone help me!'

'Notice how no one is rushing in here to stop me? What do you think that says about you, Kali?' Ryan fought to keep his voice low and controlled but the furious edge of his temper was leading him. 'The only thing you are going to do right now is cut the bullshit and quit jerking us around. You will give us chapter and verse on every last one of your victims or so help me God you will not leave this room alive. What's it going to be?'


	41. Calming of the Ryan

'Detective.'

Esposito stood with his hand on the weapon at his hip, unsure of how far over the line Ryan was going to go with their charade.

But Ryan wasn't in a place where he was going to hear anyone except the person in front of him. 'What's it going to be, Kali?'

'Detective Ryan.'

Ryan glanced over his shoulder, saw Beckett there with Montgomery and Karpowski. 'Sir-'

'Stand down Detective. We'll take it from here,' Beckett said civilly.

'No, Beckett, I will deal with them,' Karpowski interjected, with the tone of voice that told anyone listening she was struggling to prove she was the one in charge of the room. 'You handle the suspect. Detective Ryan, stand down.'

Ryan gave it a few seconds, to make it look like he was seriously thinking of disobeying his captain and chief of detectives before letting Kali drop back to her flat feet with a thud. He stormed out, followed by Esposito; Montgomery stood in the doorway, blocking Kali's view from giving them the thumbs-up they completely deserved before he turned back to face Kali and two of the finest commanding officers he'd worked with.

Beckett had already set the table to rights, picking up the trick set of cuffs they used in school demonstrations. Kali would no more have been able to pick the real manacle cuffs than sprout wings and fly to Idaho, considering those keys and cuffs were back with Watkins in Observation. She grabbed the file Adam had been using as a prop, passing the playbook to Esposito.

'I do apologize for that, Miz Wenthram. But you have made a lot of people very angry,' Beckett said sweetly. 'Not the least of whom is Detective Ryan, he takes it very personally when pregnant women are injured.'

'Unbelievable, you'll be lucky if I don't sue your asses off for police brutality!'

'He wasn't wrong though, did you see how no one rushed to your defense? It's because we know that you have carefully plotted to murder those people.' Beckett held up her fingers, began to list off all the hot tickets from the evidence log. 'We have the drugs, the tattoo gun and its sundry equipment, several very reliable witnesses who saw you torturing Sascha Russell, we have Emily Watson's statement and she has already confirmed your ID, the reports from the ME who found traces of your DNA on Will Newman's genitalia, and most importantly, we have your trophy room. In simple terms, you are completely fucked and you will never breathe natural air again in your life. So.'

Beckett took out a paper from her file, shoved it towards Kali. 'You are going to sign this confession, telling us everything right from the first time you spotted Louise Kingman to your arrest this evening.'

'I'm not telling you shit,' Kali started, and Beckett leaned across the table.

'Really? You really wanna take that route? Because I'll tell you what's behind door number two, Kali. You tell me to go fuck myself and I let Detective Ryan back in here to finish the job he started.'

'Please don't let him back in here,' Kali pleaded with genuine fear in her voice, and Beckett saw they'd made the right call letting Ryan loose on her. She had the fear of God in her now. 'Please, no, I- I swear I'll tell you everything, I promise you, just please don't let him in here again!'

'All of it Kali.' Beckett shoved the paper towards her, clicked the pen. 'No detail spared, or believe you me, you will regret it to the end of your days.'

Behind the glass in Observation, where nearly every Homicide detective and officer in the Twelfth Precinct was silently cheering, bumping knuckles; Esposito stood watching, knowing that Ryan would be in good hands with Adam in the break room. His partner needed the tranquility to keep himself from breaking down entirely, and Adam would be a good counterpoint to that. Besides, neither of them needed to see this part to know they'd done their jobs correctly. Briefly, he wondered what Montgomery or Karpowski might have to say about Ryan's tactics but as he was only making threats and there had been no actual danger - Ryan had really emptied the whole clip - he doubted there was much they could slap him for.

Excusing himself, he left Observation to go find Adam and Ryan, not surprised to find them in the break-room, nursing coffees. Ryan's eyes were bloodshot which bothered none of them considering the tirade he'd just been on. Instead, Esposito went to the fridge, pulled out the small box he'd tucked into his secret hiding spot. He plunked down between them, lifted the lid.

'Saved these for a special occasion. Today seems like a good one.'

'Agreed,' Ryan sighed as he dipped into the neon green box, pulled out the arepas whose flavour was unknown. 'How long have they been in there?'

'Only since Thursday. My mami sent a box to the station and I hid them for a moment like this. They are a mix of chocolate, passionfruit, and pina colada. Which one did you get, Ry?'

'The delicious one,' he mumbled around a mouthful of pastry and fruit filling. 'You think we pulled it off?'

'Dude, she was almost in tears when Beckett threatened to have you finish the job, as she said, so that Kali wouldn't quibble on confessing to all her sins.'

'Good. That's...that's good enough on this one,' Ryan decided. 'Four people are dead, a fifth in the hospital.'

'Were you bullshitting us Ryan?' Adam inquired. 'Is Sascha okay?'

'When I left she was about to go into recovery from her surgery and she needs a second one on her ankle. The first one tonight was to ensure there was no permanent damage to her shoulder and with the baby now...' Ryan trailed off, chewed thoughtfully a moment. 'They want to give her body as much chance to rest before they go in for the ankle. But with some therapies and patience and love from her man and her sister, there's no reason she won't have a perfectly healthy baby.'

'Good.'

'Hey, listen you mind if I go make a phone call?'

When they others shook their heads, Ryan went to his desk; the bullpen was empty since everyone was crowded into Observation like popes in a Volkswagen. He thought of using his desk phone but the call was personal so he opted for his cell instead. He blinked on confusion when he got the voicemail at home - Honey-Milk and the kids were supposed to be home tonight, as his wife was off until Tuesday and the kids didn't have plans he knew of. Of course, he hadn't checked in since lunchtime when Mallory and Lindsay had brought over cupcakes that hadn't lasted the hour and it was now past ten at night.

Redialing, he tried to raise Honey-Milk on her cellphone and was met with success - his beautiful bride picked up on the fourth ring. 'Hey baby, what's going on?'

'We got her.'

'What?'

'We got her,' Ryan repeated, feeling the first flickers of a smile creeping over his face. 'Beckett and Karpowski are wrappingg her up now. Where are you? I tried at home and got the voicemail.'

'Oh, we're all over here at Meredeth's. After Lindsay and Mally came back from their special delivery, Lindsay mentioned the shake-up in power so Meredeth decided to host an impromptu fiesta night so we wouldn't go crazy worrying about whether our cops were goin to get that crazy itchy-bee.'

Ryan chuckled; 'itchy-bee' was Honey-Milk's way of saying 'bitch' around little ears, a trick picked up from being on the pediatric floor of a hospital. 'I'm thinking when I get home tonight, we give the kids the option of sleeping over at a friend's house.'

'That kind of loud feel better love is needed?'

'Desperately.'

'You got it, babe. Anything else?'

'Save me some of Meredeth's snacks?'

'I'll do better than that.'

Ryan blinked. 'Better than Meredeth snacks?'

'I know my man, I know exactly what you need right now.'

'I love you so much Jenny.'

'Love you right back, Kev.'


	42. End of the Day C

It took time but three hours later, the Kali was done. Beckett watched her be transported by LeBlanc and Watkins outside, where Montgomery had already convened with the press to inform them the case was wrapped and that Kali had made a full confession and would be a guest of the state until the day she died.

She felt so damn drained, despite all the noise around her with everyone celebrating after such a tough case. They'd all earned it, no question, but seriously couldn't they do this out on the town or in their own damn houses? Beckett sighed, scrubbed her hands through her hair as she turned to her computer - being the responsible adult in this group of over-grown kids meant she would get to do all the paperwork too.

'Beckett, go home.'

At Montgomery's voice, Beckett looked up from her desk. 'Huh?'

'Go home,' he repeated. 'Go get drunk or lovey-dovey with your man, go sky-diving in Morocco but get the hell out of here. The paperwork can wait, you know that.'

'Sir, I just can't take that risk,' she replied at length. 'What happens if-'

'You know that Ian Link was down earlier, saying there is no more what ifs on this case anymore. Everyone knows Kali is over. Go home so your family can shower you with the gifts you deserve.'

'Yes sir.' Beckett smiled, picked up her jacket and headed for the garage. She wished they lived far enough into the future so that she could put her car to autopilot and she'd just be able to cruise home. On the other hand the fight to stay awake on the drive home would mean she would be fully alert when she saw her kids.

She pulled her phone from her pocket, saw there was a text from none other than her loving hubby already; love for him bloomed brightly in her chest as she read it.

_Hello Wonder-Woman, we are at Meredeth's for the evening, and we'll be here until our cops are all here at Casa Esposito. Pass it on. Love you._

Beckett grinned as she forwarded the message to everyone it applied to, then leaned against the side of her car for a moment. It was so nice, so blessedly nice to put this one to bed. _Bed...husband...Rich...sex...loud...noisy...feels so good_, her brain rambled at her, making her snicker. Yep, that would be the only way she was gonna be able to sleep tonight, since getting rip-roaring drunk wouldn't be something she'd do with the kids in the house. A nice good sweaty bout of mind-emptying sex with Castle was exactly the thing she needed right now.

She headed south towards Twenty-Fifth Street, parked a few spaces up from the Esposito townhouse; the short walk in the October night air sharpened her senses so that by the time she knocked on the door she was more alert than she'd been even twenty minutes before.

When Meredeth answered the door, saw Beckett alone, her face immediately went bright. 'Kate! Oh man, you must be so happy to have this case closed. Come in, come in, we're just about to re-start the movie.'

'Oh?' Beckett stepped inside, unwound her scarf as she scanned the living room - the coffee table had been nudged aside to made room for all the little sleeping bags and the bodies they contained. Dell and Tessi were hunkered down on their own spot, sharing popcorn and trading little grins together while Leo, Carey and Violet were flaked out on their bellies and Max and Finn had tucked themselves in by the corner of the couch so that they could be closest to their little buddy Zane. 'I thought my two little goblins were here too?'

'Oh, they went with Trini and Javi to take Tortuga down the street, didn't you see them?'

'No, I came from Eighth Avenue.'

'Ah, yeah, they went over to Seventh and south to the twenty-four-seven market to grab a few things for breakfast tomorrow.' Meredeth gestured her towards the kitchen. 'Come on, I'll get you set up with a beverage.'

Beckett followed her friend to the kitchen, saw Meredeth had had her blender out; considering the fragrance of her famous beef and bean enchiladas still hung in the air, it wasn't too hard to figure out what it had been put into service for. 'You have any stuff for daiquiris?'

'I've got stuff for everything. Tonight's a good night for a stiff one, and a stiff one,' Meredeth winked, and Beckett saw in her friend what she knew she needed for herself.

'Feeling itchy for Javi?'

'Kinda, I mean we have a healthy sex life but you know when you need to just _be_ with your man, just to feel better?'

'Sure do,' Beckett replied whole-heartedly as she watched Meredeth pull the ingredients from the fridge and began to toss them into the blender.

'I've been a cop's wife for thirteen years now and there are times when I think I'm going to get that call again that my man has been shot or worse.'

Beckett said nothing; it was so easy to forget that in all the years they'd been on the job it was only Meredeth who had had her cop take a bullet. She just listened as Meredeth went on, 'I know there's always that risk but there are times when it's so easy to take it for granted. It's why I try to make it my daily mission to never fight with Javi. We disagree, but we never fight, you know?'

'Yeah, I know.'

'When he got that call this morning-' God didn't that feel like a lifetime ago, Meredeth thought '-all I could think of was Daphne having to tell her son that his father was killed. And...I thought what if I ever had to say that to my kids?'

'Oh Mere.' Beckett hopped off the bar stool that sat by the island, rounded the countertop to hug her friend. 'You know it would take more than some crazy broad to get rid of Javier Esposito. Hell you guys already survived that one. Twice I might add. Or does that count since it was the same crazy broad both times?'

Meredeth laughed, which helped stave off the tears; Esposito would understand them but she didn't want to look like a suck in front of her friends, even if they would understand what it was going through her mind that made them crop up in the first place. 'Either way, I know what you're trying to do and it's working, so maybe I should repay the favour.'

She snapped the lid on the blender, blitzing the fruit, booze and syrup to high heaven so that when she pour the jug's contents into a nifty margarita glass Beckett was the one ready to cry.

'I swear in a past life, you were like Julia Child or something,' Beckett told her after a sip and the zing of some tropical fruit combined with tart liquor hit her tongue. 'What's in this?'

'That would be mango and papaya with a dash of lime mixed with tequila and a splash of gin. I call it the Party Starter.'

'Well, I may have to put some in a thermos and take it home tonight.' When Meredeth simply opened the fridge, pointed to a bottle label with Beckett's name, she laughed. 'Mere, you are the best friend a woman or a cop could ask for.'

'Damn right she is.'

Beckett looked over her shoulder, saw Esposito tugging his tie off; a few steps behidn was her own knight in shining armour. Forgetting all about the lovely cocktail Meredeth had prepared for her, she moved to him, and without a word just wrapped her arms around him. When she felt his embrace her back, she felt a little of that raw jumble of emotions of the day start to evaporate.

'Rick, let's go home,' she murmured. 'I need home.'

'Then home we go.'

'Oh, Kate by the way, RJ and Jojo are having a sleepover here tonight,' Meredeth added, winking conspiratorially. 'We'll meet you in the morning for a nice big brunch at the loft.'


	43. Sensations of Home

'Oh hello you gorgeous stack of pancakes.'

Lindsay arched her eyebrows as Adam wandered into their apartment like a refugee from a hurricane. Then again, Adam had left home for work Friday morning and hadn't been back until now. She set down Zane's carrier on the kitchen table, unbuckled him and held him close while Adam just simply fell backwards over the arm of the couch to stare at the ceiling.

'Daddy's very tired,' she murmured to the snuggling Zane who was just waking for his usual quarter-to-midnight snack. 'But we'll get him fixed up won't we? Yes we will. We sure will.'

Zane just gurgled contentedly, and Lindsay looked at her man, who'd sat up at the noise of their son, gave them both a tired smile. 'You wanna feed him?'

'Yeah, sure.'

'Good.'

Lindsay shifted her hold on the baby, opened the fridge to find the breast milk-formula cocktail Zane was starting to drink now that he was out of the true newborn stage. She set it on the counter to warm before passing Zane over to Adam, kissing his head.

'Play nice, boys, Mama's gotta do something nice for Daddy.'

Adam grinned as she disappeared down the hallway, wondered if his bride was going to dress up in something tiny and silky. He looked down at Zane who was flexing his longer fingers and curling them into Adam's work shirt near his heart. 'Hey buddy, hey did you have fun today with all your big buddies at Auntie Meredeth's house?'

'Blblblb,' Zane replied.

'Oh, really? You got to be the official taste tester? How did Mama feel about that?'

'Mamamama!' Zane perked up at the mention of Lindsay, blinked as he tried to roll over in Adam's arms. 'Mamamama!'

'Gee now I feel love,' Adam groused good naturedly, then smiled when he saw Lindsay coming back down the hallway; he'd been partially right about the lime and basil stuff - she'd turned on the water to run him a bath. 'He hasn't seen me in about two days and all he wants is mama.'

'Oh sweetie, watch.' Lindsay lifted Zane out of his arms, cooed at him. 'Who's that over there? Is that Daddy?'

'Dadadadadada!' Zane stretched out his arms toward his father with a mile wide grin. 'Dadada!'

'Huh. Weird little fella,' Adam commented on a yawn.

'Nah, he just likes to flirt.'

'Blblbl!' Zane gave another gummy grin, batting his big eyes at Adam. 'Didididi?'

'Did we get the bad guys? You betcha that's why I've been away for so long this week, pal. But tell you what, tomorrow we are gonna hang, you and me and Mama. How does that sound?'

'Mamammama!'

'Yeah I love her a lot, and we're both big fans of her boobs, aren't we?'

'Nice, Adam,' Lindsay chuckled, coming over to nip their son out of his daddy's arms. 'Just for that, you are soaking in the tub alone while I feed Mister Man here and tuck him into bed. Then you can...tuck me in too.'

That he had enough energy for his blood to drain into his lap at the idea of being in bed with Lindsay just proved to Adam how much he truly loved his wife. He wanted very much to take the Ry-Sposito monster's advice and bang her senseless, but he had a feeling the he would she would be the one tucking him into bed. Still he rose, stretched his aching back and headed for the bathroom where he found a small oasis inviting him in. There was the tub, blissfully shining white porcelain filled with gently fragrant bubbles, along with a copy of Stieg Larsson's _Girl Who Played With Fire_ and a bottle of lime Gatorade, Lindsays touch to make it a 'boy bath' as she liked to tease him; without a moment's hesitation he stripped to the skin and slipped into the welcoming hot water.

'Oh, God,' Adam moaned, as though he were slipping into his wife in the throes of passion, 'oh god yes, that's the stuff.'

He dunked his head beneath the soap, wiped water away from his eyes when he resurfaced. God this was almost better than sex, he thought, for the warmth was making every last knotted up muscle in his back come undone with relief. Oh, yes, Lindsay might have to wait for that scream orgasm.

When the door opened, he squinted open an eye, saw Lindsay coming in with him. 'Where's Zane?' he asked.

'Tucked him back into bed, he was asleep and doing that cute snoring thing like you do before the water was even ready for his warming his bottle.' As she spoke, she stripped off her top, absent running her hands over her belly which was just beginning to tighten itself up after giving birth. She absently glanced in the mirror, then stepped into the tub with Adam. 'I'm starting to look like me again.'

'You always look like you, but you also didn't gain a tonne of weight when you were pregnant bc your Finnish genes gave your sturdiness like Meredeth and Andrea. And before you say it, remember that Andrea is a mother of two and she has had nude photos of herself sell for fifteen grand to a world famous super model who said she is totally hot.'

'I wasn't thinking any of that,' Lindsay laughed, 'but nice to see you're just as dedicated a hubby as you are a cop.'

'I'm an amazing cop _because_ I'm a super hubby.'

'I love you so much, Adam.'

'I love you right back.'

'And you being a sexy daddy, well...' Lindsay shifted so the water lapped over her olive skin; her breasts pressed against his chest, her curves fitting against the angles his body created. 'That makes mama very hot for you too.'

She kissed him, running soap slicked hands over his chest, his shoulders as her lips pressed against his. Her man, was all she could think, her sexy cop with all his flaws and perfections. There was nothing in the world that compared to him. When he groaned, not in pleasure but in frustration, Lindsay eased back. 'What is it?'

'You elbowed me in the junk,' he managed and Lindsay sat back, horrified.

'Oh, baby, I'm so sorry!'

'Maybe we should just wait until we have a little more room, huh?'

'Good plan,' she agreed, then stood up, grabbed for the second towel she'd brought in. 'I'm going to let you have your soak in peace.'

'But you're sexy,' Adam protested in such a little-boy voice that Lindsay had to laugh. 'Come back, we can have sex.'

'Okay but then you'll miss out on me being all silky smooth from that body lotion I know you love.'

Lindsay sent him a sultry look and Adam just shook his head at her. 'Curse you for being such a vixen and know what buttons to push.'

'You certainly know what buttons of mine to push too,' she volleyed back on a sultry pur and Adam felt his blood go south in his body as she left. The temptation to drag her back into the hot tub caveman style was strong but he doubted they'd survive it intact enough to make it pleasurable. Plus she had gone to the trouble of the bubbles and whatnot, so he just closed his eyes, let himself drift a little, until he found his fingers getting a little pruny and he had to catch himself from falling asleep in the tub. Relaxing was sexy but drowning was not.

He hit the lever to drain the tub, toweled off, and because it was just them walked naked to the bedroom where he found Lindsay sitting up in bed, a few candles lit as she smoothed her far-famed lotion onto her skin. For a moment Adam just watched her, the attentiveness she showed her body, the curves that made her silhouette. Though she was self-conscious of the Zane-pounds just starting to come off, Adam only saw the most beautiful woman in the world.

'Lindsay, I hope you're finishing soon,' he told her, kneeling on the bed behind her, 'so I can start having my way with you.'


	44. Love of a Good Man

Adam wasn't the only one with tension relief with his lover on his mind - a few blocks away, Lanie was finishing putting her overtired baby boy into his bed despite protests he wasn't sleepy.

'Mama, no, I've got lotsa energy,' Finn insisted. 'I could run to Dell and Mally's house!'

'Because you're still buzzed on sugar.'

This elicited a round of giggles from Finn and he proceeded to make buzzing noises as Lanie helped him into his pyjamas. _Lord give me strength_, was all she could think - she loved her children dearly but damn did she just want to go to bed for some private time with Dave. The news that Kali Wenthram had been caught, had confessed and was on her way to the deepest darkest hole they could still call an American jail was most definitely worth celebrating.

As soon as she got her little toads to bed.

Before Lanie could start on another futile mission to get her son into his bed Carey appeared in the doorway, already in his sleepwear and his stuffed duck Emilio tucked under his arm. 'Hey little bro, it's story-time. Violet is already waiting in my room but you're not welcome until you have your pjs on.'

'Mama!' Now Finn looked at Lanie like it was all her fault for delay him. He snatched up the pyjamas she'd laid out for him and tugged them on in impatient jerks. 'I can't be late for story time! Hurry hurry hurry!'

Within seconds, Finn and his stuffi were out the door and zipping into Carey's room; Lanie followed him out to make sure the kids were indeed settling in. Sure enough, tucked up on one side of Carey's bed was Violet with her stuffed pink pony; Finn wasted no time climbing in so he was the baby in the middle.

Satisfied the children would be well occupied like this for awhile, Lanie went into her bedroom, found Dave there reading _The Tempest_ which never fail to make Lanie grin. The man was sexy as hell, a paramedic which automatically made him a badass, and he liked to curl up at night with his equally sexy badass wife beside him as he read William Shakespeare.

'Good read, babe?' she asked, and he glanced up to give her the shyly sexy smile that always made her melt.

'Ariel has just appeared to the three men of sin.' Dave looked at his wife, eyes skimming over her tired face, lingering on her body. 'Much like you have appeared before me.'

She let out a tired laugh as she tugged her sweater over her head, shimmied out of her pants. She turned to consider her options in her bureau for pyjamas, and was reaching behind her back to unsnap her bra when she felt Dave's fingers close over her wrist. He turned her so he had her in his arms, those clever fingers dancing up her back to the clasp of her bra; with a clever flick he popped the hook-and-eyes, let the silky fabric slip to the floor between them.

'There,' he murmured, 'that's better.'

Lanie closed her eyes a millisecond before Dave's lips hit hers, the better to savour the taste of him on her tongue. God how she loved him, everything he was, everything he made her feel and how he made her feel, all of it made her a better woman. Stretching to her tiptoes she wrapped her arms around his shoulders - her man was a tall drink of water and she let out a little squeak when his hands stroked down her back to ass so he could boost her up.

'Hold onto me, Elenia,' he murmured, ravishing her mouth as he moved them onto the bed, his beautiful chocolate goddess with her pagan-fire eyes so tired and sad from the week's case. He brushed his hand over the side of her face, caressed the silk-smooth skin of her cheek. 'Just let it go, my love, just let it go.'

Dave didn't give her the chance to protest, for his mouth was covering hers once more, his tongue sliding delicately over the bow of her upper lip before he trailed kisses down the side of her neck. He loved that curve, and he loved her shoulders, they were one of a woman's most underrated curves in his opinion, and Lanie was all curves. He kissed her again, a little more fire in it this time as his hands moved up her breasts, flicking his thumbs over her nipples.

Lanie groaned into his mouth, felt the flood of desire between her thighs. Her fingers curled gently into his back to knead the strong muscles found there before moving down to pull his hips tight against hers, pressing heat against heat. She must have been more tired than she thought if she was just noticing now that Dave was completely naked. Suddenly impatient, Lanie thrust her hips upward, fumbling as she shoved at her panties.

'I want to feel you,' she sighed, 'just you. You're all I need.'

She closed her eyes again, saying it over and over as she felt Dave inch her panties down until a flick of her foot had them landing over by the door. _Yes_ was the only thought that got through as his hands moved back up her legs, and she felt a little quiver in her belly as he planted kisses on the inside of her thighs. When his lips founds her secretive ones, Lanie had to turn her face to her pillows to muffle her loud moan of satisfaction; God help her if the kids wandered in at such a critical moment because they thought she was in pain.

Dave smiled against her skin, slick and dewy with lust for him. He danced his tongue over her, back and forth, side to side; shifting he position himself so her right knee rest over his shoulder, letting herself open for him even farther without her realizing it. That, he knew would drive her wild. As her honeypot became even more damp for him, Dave slipped his fingers up to join his mouth so he could part her lips and drive his tongue inside her.

'God!' The oath was muffled as Lanie clapped her hand to her mouth, the other staying on the back of his head, fingers twisting through his hair to keep him close. Her hips rocked and ground a deep rhythm that started had started slow and was now building faster and faster to a frenetic pace until Dave gripped them in his hands to steadier her; with a final spearing movement, he shot her over the edge so that Lanie saw bright sunbursts of light behind her eyes.

As her senses scrambled to find equilibrium, Lanie found her body taking over and detaching from her mind. She twisted so that she was on her stomach, grabbing at Dave's hand to close it over her breast so he could feel the thunderclap of her heartbeat. She felt him slide into her, a little rougher than normal but they were no strangers to good hard sex in twelve years together, and moaned lowly.

'Just like that, David, more like that.'

'Uh-huh,' was the only intelligent response he could manage; God she felt so hot, so ready, Dave thought, but he knew what she needed for that beautiful heart to feel better. He dragged her up, closed her hands over their headboard under his before sliding them down her back to her hips. Holding fast to her, he began to move inside her, that deep-and-slow pace she needed from him, however frenzied she really wanted it to be. He heard her groans of pleasure from each thrust he gave her, her hips rising and falling to match his strokes until he felt her body to tense, her walls clench around him. Her moans of his name over and over again rang in his ears as he drove her up again and followed her over the edge into oblivion.

Spent, they lay tangled together in their bed, Dave slipping out of his wife so he could turn her to face him. When he saw the look in her eyes, the film of tears, he pressed a gentle kiss to her brow and held her close as she began to cry.


	45. Love of a Good Woman

'Kevin?'

'Yeah?'

'On a scale of one to ten, how crazy did you go on Kali Wenthram?'

Ryan turned his head to look over his shoulder at his wife as they laid in bed together; they'd finally made it home, all four of them, to their apartment. He wanted his babies nearby, even knowing that his on and daughter would give him shit for being so gooey when he gave them big hugs and kisses the next morning; especially Dell. His boy was becoming a man so fast on him, already in grade eight and starting to see the world around him beyond the shelter of childhood.

Of course kids whose parents worked as homicide detectives had a different view on a sheltered childhood.

'Kevin?'

'Huh?'

'You getting tired baby?' Honey-Milk slowed her hands on his back, where the muscles were only starting to unwind.

'No, just...drifted into my own little world for a moment. What was the question?'

'I asked how crazy you went on Kali.'

'Let's just say this woman killed eighteen people and she begged Beckett not to let me back into the room when she balked at signing a confession and finishing a little chat with me was her alternative choice.'

'I see.'

Ryan turned over so his wife's hands rested on his naked chest. 'Jenny, trust me when I say that this is one of those times you gain nothing by knowing what went down in the interrogation.'

'Okay.' Honey-Milk knew her man inside out and if he deemed it on the table it was truly better left that way. Rather than pressing the issue, she pulled her nightie over her head so she was naked in bed with him. 'Perhaps this might take your mind off of things?'

'Hell yeah.' Ryan sat up to kiss her, caress her body, then groaned in confused when she pulled away. 'What gives?'

'Come on. I have something I know will help you sleep better.'

Honey-Milk cracked open the door, peeked out to see if either of their children were up getting a drink; after making sure the coast was clear, she zipped across the hallway to the bathroom with Ryan following behind her. She flipped on the taps for the shower, dragged him in with her.

'Oh, yeah, that feels so good,' he moaned, letting the hot steaming water stream down his face and shoulders. 'If this was your big surprise, I have to say I'm equally thankful and disappointed. I was kinda hoping for sex as a sedative.'

'Don't worry, baby.' Honey-Milk turned him around, pressed her mouth to his. 'You'll get that too.'

Ryan drank her in as she kissed him, deeply and erotically; she was his little bit of perfection, he thought, with all her imperfections. He knew how much she despised not being able to shed the last ten pounds after Mallory had come along, the way her nose always wrinkled up on one side when she smiled, the way she always stuck an extra 'g' in the word organize. Those where the little things that made Honey-Milk who she was, and what made her all his. Pulling her tight against his body, his hands smoothed over her back, tangled in her wet hair as she turned them to reverse their positions.

'Mmm, Kevin, trust me, you will wanna be under the water for this,' Honey-Milk murmured to him as she tipped her head back and let the shower wash away the worries of the day. She caressed his shoulders and spun him back, then fused her mouth to his throat, nibbling at the skin.

'Jenny, hot as a hickey would be,' he replied through gritted teeth, 'I can't go into work with love bites above a collar line.'

'Mm, who says I'm stay up here?'

Before Ryan could formulate a reply, he felt his wife's mouth graze down over his shoulder, his chest, lower and lower until she was kneeling before him and taking him into her mouth. The feel of her caressing him with his tongue had him letting out a groan of pleasure; she was a good lover but this particular move was something he knew she was particularly talented at. He brushed the top of her head with his hand, the other gripping the shower bar as he rolled his head forward, eyes sunken shut to better absorb the sensations.

'Just like that, babe, just like that.' It was almost a chant as she teased and tortured him. Everything vanished, all the hate and he anger, the whole Pandora's box of emotion baggage shut its lid and went far far away; the only thing that matter was his Honey-Milk doing what she did best - being there for him and knowing exactly what he needed. When she made a little 'mmm' noise and took him deeper, began to suckle in earnest, Ryan let out a low groan of dark delight. 'God you so good, Jenn.'

'Mmm,' she repeated, not caring whether or not he would return the favour later. Honey-Milk knew her man and knew when he came, he would sleep like the dead afterward. Her hand stroked up and down his thighs as she worked him, licking and nipping at him until she heard his breath change from deep and slow to little hitches. She tightened her grip against his ass to keep him close, felt him begin to shudder as the orgasm flood through his system like a volcanic erruption. She took him in entirely, until he was completely drained, and pressed a tender kiss against his hip when he finished, rose from in front of him.

'Feel better now, Kev?'

'Hugely.' Ryan waited while she tipped back her head to rinse her mouth with the water from the shower, then pulled her in for a kiss, the kind that spoke of love, of reassurance that he would be okay. 'Do you feel better?'

'Oh, Kev, it's okay.' Reading him perfectly, Honey-Milk stroked his cheek softly. 'I don't need anything right now, I know you're exhausted.'

'Fine,' he decided, knowing she would be happily surprised by the method he'd chosen to wake her up the following morning. Instead he scratched his belly, felt it rumble a little. He'd been too high still from the case to eat when they'd been at Casa Esposito. 'There anything to eat in the fridge?'

'Well, if you like, we can finish being total teenagers right now and order pizza or wings or sandwiches,' Honey-Milk suggested. 'I's Saturday so Gennaro's is open until one.'

'Perfect woman.'

'Damn right I am.'

Honey-Milk gave him a juicy kiss, then stepped out of the shower, once again proving just how well she knew her hubby - by the time Ryan was done using the shower for legitimate reasons and into his sleep pants and tee, she was just getting off the phone with the sandwich place. She sent him a loving smile, so full of understanding and tenderness that he simply went to his favoured armchair and groaned.

'Jenny, don't think of this as an insult to you but I sincerely doubt I'll be able to get a decent night's sleep tonight.'

'I know,' she said in her patient way, then blinked when she saw Mallory come wandering down the hallway from her bedroom. 'Hey there snowflake, what's up?'

'I woke up thirsty. Daddy, did you get the bad girl?' she asked on a wide yawn.

'We sure did.'

'So why do you look so sad?'

'Because...' Ryan trailed off, unsure how to answer; the intermittent silence gave Mallory an opening. She wandered over in her half-waking state, climbed into his lap, and in her adorably wacky way, knelt on his lap to wrap her arms around his head in a hilariously awkward hug.

'There there, Daddy, it's okay. Mally's here.' She looked down at him, smiled. 'Isn't this what you do when we're sad, Daddy?'

'It sure is.' Ryan held his daughter close. 'Maybe you could tell Mama I need one of those fancy hot chocolates to stay happy.'

'Please Mama? Daddy needs to cheer up.'

Honey-Milk feigned reluctance before smiling at them both. 'Well, I suppose, since it is a special occasion.'

'That's right, Daddy's a rockstar.'


	46. Morning of Loved Ones A

Beckett awoke the next morning feel rested in her mind if not her body. Then again, she thought with a quick glance at her bedside clock, it was only six-thirty and they hadn't fallen asleep until nearly two am. She turned on her side to watch her husband sleep – and was more than a little surprised to see Castle awake and watching her.

'Why are you up so early, Rick?' she asked in a sleep-slurred voice.

'I woke up about an hour ago, couldn't get back to sleep.'

'Why not?'

'Just thinking about the case, from a writer's perspective.'

Beckett gave him a sombre smile. 'Rick, do you-'

'I'm not using this one for a case, it's too...crass, too ordinary and most importantly,' he went on, 'it's too close to home. I can't take something like this and use it for my personal gain. Besides, there's going to be plenty of journalists who want to write the true crime tell all, like that slimy Lee Wax.'

'I sincerely doubt any family members would give a bottom-dweller like Lee Wax a stick of gum, nevermind the details of their personal lives and tragedy. That aside...' Beckett scooted closer to give him a light kiss. 'I was going to ask do you have enough stuff in the house for our brunch for the family or do I need to go with you to do a little grocery shopping?'

'Nope, you are staying here to rest. I mean it,' he added when he saw the light of protest in her eyes. 'Kate, you have been running on nearly empty for the last few days. The crazy bitch is behind bars and all of you know she is going to stay there. So take your medicine like a good girl and stay in bed until eighty-thirty.'

'I'm not tired!'

Castle chuckled as she pouted. 'I bet you were a real treat on Christmas morning.'

'Well the earlier you get up, the more time you have for doing stuff.'

'Katie-Lou, I love you, but you are not going to win this one.'

Before Beckett could protest further, the bedroom door swung open and in race RJ and Jojo; in the blink of an eye they were jumping on the bed and making a Beckett-wich as they hugged her from each side.

'Mumum! You did it! You got the bad girl!'

'Yes you did, you sure did!'

'Daddy says that Alexis and Shane and Petra are coming over this morning.'

'And we get to celebrate with a big breakfast-lunch with ever'one!'

Beckett could only laugh at the assault of her children's voices and wrapped an arm around each of them. 'RJ, Jojo, you guys are up way too early and you are way too energetic for this early in the morning.'

'No-no-no,' Jojo chanted, shaking her head so her auburn hair made swishy noises. 'No, we have lotsa to do!'

'But you're just going to sleep like a princess,' RJ jumped in, knowing how much his little sister wanted their mumum to be in the kitchen with them. 'Daddy, tell her she has to sleep like a princess. She was up very late getting the bad guys, and it's our job to let her sleep while we are making yummy snacks.'

'Oh yes RJ.' On this point, Jojo was more than happy to defer to the expertise of her older brother. 'Mumum works so hard to get all those people jus'ice, so we have to make her a breakfast to keep up with her busy-busy bad guy and bad girl catching. And for everyone coming to visit!'

'Exactly, so fall out troops,' Castle instructed them.

'Mooshes first!' Jojo insisted, and gave Beckett's cheek a noisy kiss, which RJ followed up.

'Love you Mumum,' he said in a rush as he felt his young chef's brain kicking into gear. 'We will give you breakfast in a little bit! It's gonna be a surprise!'

They scampered off, Castle hanging back only a moment to give her a juicy kiss reminiscent of the kind he'd given her the night before; despite the teasing from Meredeth Beckett and Castle had simply come home and gone to bed. Though she had all the desire in the world to be close to her husband, the ache of fatigue was so deep in her bones that Castle had reversed the stereotype and told her she wasn't getting anything more from him than a cuddle that night. He wanted her to be awake when they made love; he joked that way they could both enjoy it and he wouldn't feel like he had some kind of weird case of necrophilia trying to bone his sleeping beauty.

Resigned to her fate, Beckett grabbed her pillows to fluff them and turned on the audiobook version of _Heat Seeking Missile_, the latest Nikki Het that had her chasing down terrorist sleeper cells in Lower Manhattan. If she was being forced to stay in bed, she could at least catch up on her reading.

It wasn't until she was opening her eyes sometime later that Beckett realized she'd fallen asleep at all. However, the sight when she did wake was a most welcome one – she'd turned on her side, just like she did to face Castle in bed, only instead of her writer being in his usual place, Alexis was sacked out with Petra beside her, whistling her breath through her nose.

'Hey guys,' she whispered, and Alexis let out a little groan as her eyelids fluttered open.

'Hey Mom.'

'When did you get here?'

'About seven thirty or so. Petra was awake around four in the morning for breakfast and after she was asleep again, I couldn't do the same so Dad said we should come up and keep you company.'

'How is she doing?' Beckett boosted herself on her elbow to gaze at her granddaughter's angelic little face.

'Good, she's getting into a routine which is nice for me and Shane. He's so awesome with her, Mom.' Alexis' tired eyes were rapturous as she talked about the new papa. 'He doesn't get cranky at all when it's his turn to feed the baby, and he always badgers me into making sure I have bottles ready so I can sleep.'

'That's good, but then I'd expect nothing less from him,' Beckett laughed. 'He's here? He didn't have to work?'

'Yeah, he is starting back just after Hallowe'en. Having him home has made being a new mumum so much easier for me, I...' Alexis trailed off a little. 'I've been a little scared.'

'Scared?'

'Yeah, that I would do everything wrong and she'd end up with baby poop all over her crib, or she'd go hungry because I wouldn't hear her crying, or that I'd run the water too warm for her bath.'

'Ah, yeah, that's the new-mom paranoia good and strong,' Beckett chuckled. 'Are you scared you'll hurt her?'

'No, it's not post-partum depression. I'm a psychiatrist, I'd recognize the signs. It's just...Shane calls it my goody-streak.'

'Good streak?'

'Yeah, how I'm used to being little miss goody-goody, the head of the class who wants to be perfect to make my loved ones proud of me.' When Beckett laughed in earnest, Alexis felt her mouth turn up in a smile. 'Remember the meltdown I had in the Hamptons about the wedding?'

'And how did that work out?'

'We got our dream day in spite of all those things.'

'Exactly. Remember that part whenever you feel insecure about being a new mom.'

As if to prove the point, Petra let out a little squeaky yawn and blinked her dark blue eyes open. They darted back and forth, settling when she heard Alexis cooing at her before she pursed her lips like a little goldfish, then turned it into a precious little smile.

'God she's a sweetheart,' Beckett grinned; sitting up, she plucked up the baby into her arms, heart melting when Petra cuddled close. 'What says we go find Papa, and Auntie Jojo and Uncle RJ and Daddy, see what kind of trouble they're getting into without Mumum and Omi around?'


	47. Morning of Loved Ones B

'Shane is it funny feeling?'

'What?'

RJ looked up from measuring his flour and wheat bran for waffle batter. 'Being a daddy. Sorry, a papa.'

'It's great. Scary sometimes but I love my girls so much that makes it feel less scary.'

'Oh, like a rollercoaster?'

Shane grinned from where he was slicing onions and peppers for the skillet bowls they would be serving as part of the brunch. As Castle had left for the market to pick up a few fresh things for their post-case feast, Shane had taken it upon himself to be in charge of the youngster. RJ was hard at work on his waffle batter and Jojo was using the kid-safety apple peeler to work away on the apples that would soon become the filling for an apple crumble to be their dessert.

'Something like that. It's hard to explain a little.'

'No, it's like when RJ makes cookies,' Jojo piped up, plunking the newly-peeled apple into the bowl. 'It's like when he's so excited to be bking them, and there's the waiting for them to come out of the oven, and then when they do, you hope they're all yummy and perfect.'

'Jojo,' RJ muttered, fighting not to turn red at her metaphor; he hadn't forgotten when he'd accidentally gotten an eyeful of Alexis and Shane all naked in bed together. Understanding now that's how babies really got made, it disturbed him to think of something coming out of Alexis' oven on a very primal level that made him shudder violently. 'Don't say things like that.'

'But-'

'How are the apples coming?' Shane had seen the look on RJ's face – it was the same look on Ryan and Esposito's faces when they'd discovered seven years prior that Alexis and Shane were together – and knew where the boy's mind was wandering. Fortunately, Jojo was young enough not to notice her brother-in-law was being a rodeo clown for her brother's embarrassment. 'How many more are there to go?'

'Ummm...' Jojo pointed delicately at the bowl to her right, counting aloud to herself. 'There are six more to go Shane.'

'You want some help?'

'Ummm, yes please.'

'Okay.' The onions dealt with, Shane rounded the island to sit with Jojo at the table with a paring knife and picked up an apple. When he noticed that JOjo was without her usual verve, he poked her in the tummy. 'What gives, little lady?'

'Huh?'

'Why are you so quiet?'

'Just thinking about all those mumums and daddies and families and friends whose friends aren't coming back because of that big meanie.' Jojo frowned a little as she started on a fresh apple. 'Why did she do it, Shane?'

'I don't know, Jojo, I think some people are just born mean.'

'They need a cookie and a hug,' she decided, 'and a friend to say you can't be so mean.'

'I really wish it was that simple, bumblebee.'

'That's what Mumum does for me and RJ when we are unhappy, we talk about our feelings and she makes us tea and cookies.'

'That's a very good way to make sure you don't turn into a meanie,' Shane agreed.

'And now she is going to live a long time in a jail box and every day she has to wake up and know she made a lot of people very sad. That's a lot of pun...punsha...'

'Punishment?'

'Yes!' Jojo nodded seriously. 'That's why we are having a fancy breakfast, so we can cel-brate her getting that punny-ish-ah-ment.'

'Jojo, do _you_ need a cookie?' RJ asked, having overheard his sister's self-debate.'

'Yes please.'

'Okay.' RJ dusted flour off of his hands, went to the cupboard to find the tin of peppernoten he always kept handy for his little sister. She loved them with a little cup of tea. 'Shane? Can you turn on the teakettle for me?'

'Yes indeed, little bro. Mumum!'

Shane glanced up, saw his bride, baby and mother-in-law coming down the stairs, all three lovely ladies looking far more rested than before. He walked over to kiss Alexis and scoop Petra out of her arms; he kissed her little head and breathed deep the new-baby smell she always carried. 'Hey, you hanging with your rock-star of an Omi? She saved a lady who is growing a little treasure just like you inside her tummy. Ryan texted me,' he explained off of Beckett's look.

'Gotcha.'

'Yeah, he said that your omi caught the big bad girl who was hurting and scaring a lot of people and now she's the one who is scared because your omi is just awesome.'

'Thanks.' Beckett smiled, passing a gentle palm over Petra's fuzzy little head. 'What are our chefs making?'

'We are having scrambled eggs, and then we are going to make skillet bowls buffet style.'

'And there is also fruit and cheese and waffles too!' RJ added around the mouthful of cookie he was sharing with Jojo. 'Alexis, when will Petra get to join in on the snacks?'

'Near Dell's birthday. She will be big enough to start trying some soft solids then.'

'But that's a long time away yet,' Beckett reminded them, 'and we are goin to enjoy her being little and cute right now.'

'Mumum, she's always gonna be cute, but she's only little now,' RJ told her, coming over to give his niece a kiss on the forehead before returning to his waffle batter. 'You wanna help me with the eggs for waffles Mumum?'

'No, she's gonna help me!' Jojo insisted, then lowered her voice when the sudden noise startled Petra. 'Sorry little baby Petra, but Mumum I'm little I need help!'

'How about I help you, sweetie?' Alexis offered and Jojo grinned brightly.

'Oh, okay, but what about Petra?'

'I've got the little princess right here,' Shane assured his sister-in-law. 'She's gonna hang with me for a snack.'

'I will get the milk!' RJ declared, racing for the fridge and pulled out one of Petra's little bottles, which made Beckett laugh. Gone were the days, it seemed, where RJ decided 'bubbies not nice'. Or at the very least, he'd just accepted that it was the biological order of things. Still, there was little that could shake his concentration when he was in kitchen mode.

It felt so good, she thought as she went to the coffee maker, measured out espresso beans for the auto-grinder. She knew this case was a tough one, but just to be here in the unbroken tranquility and know many more homes would be a little calmer because Kali Wenthram had been stopped was its own blessing. They could have been cooking rocks for all she cared; the sounds of Jojo cooing at Petra, Alexis and Shane murmuring over whether or not to change the baby, the scent of RJ's maple extract going into his waffles, the bubble and sputter of the coffee maker meant one very clear thing to her.

She was home.

While she waited on the coffee, Beckett moved over to where RJ was eying the level of cooking oil he poured into the measuring cup like he was defusing a bomb. Satisfied with the results, her young chef added eggs and milk, stirring with a fork. 'RJ, wouldn't a spoon be better for that?'

'No, Mumum, because a fork whips 'em up nice and light,' he replied in a light sing-song voice. 'That way the waffles are filling but they don't feel like the Titanic sinking once you eat them. You know that gross sinky-sand feeling you get when you and Daddy eat at that place that isn't very good, when you were sick to your tummies and bottoms?'

'Yeah, Spice Island. I remember that.'

'Well, I am not going to let that happen.'

'There's my little boy,' she chuckled. 'You ready for a buffet lunch?'

RJ started to answer when the loft door opened and Castle returned, grocery bags in hand. Beckett left RJ to his waffles, rushed over to give her husband a kiss that had him needing to right his balance.

'Wow, hi,' he said with a grin.

'Thank you. Sometimes you just know.'


	48. Return of Normalcy

_Okay, here we are, the end of the trip down the rabbit hole! As always, thank you to my brain-trust of besties **tayababy, writergirl47 and NotJana,**_ _with hounourable mention__s to **BabyCastle09 **and **anomalymona** you ladies are the best-est bluebirds ever!_

* * *

'Trini, let's go!'

'Coming Daddy! Just a minute!'

Esposito shook his head, looked at Tessi who was waiting with him at the bottom of the stairs. 'How long will this minute take?'

'You know her, Daddy, she always has to look her best. That means looking in the mirror, not at the clock.'

'You like to look your best too and you're still ready on time.'

'That's just good manners Daddy,' Tessi said simply, so much like Meredeth Esposito had to laugh. She looked over to the door, saw her mother come back in with the dog. Marching over, she pet Tortuga's furry dark head. 'That means you are being considerate, and that way you don't miss out on fun things.'

'Exactly, Daddy.' Max caught the phrase from his sister; he knew what a stickler she was for being polite. 'If you are on time or early, that means you can

'Funny part is, you and Max were the babies who arrived late for your birthdays and the twins were almost two weeks early.'

'Really? That's ironing for you.'

'What?' Esposito laughed.

'Ironing, RJ says his daddy says that is what you say when it is the unexpected or opposite thing happens.'

'I think you mean _irony_, Max Power.'

'That's what I said.'

He only shook his head, then grinned when Meredeth ushered the twins downstairs, the girl twin clearly in a state of protest. 'Dissension in the ranks, Katrina?'

'I was trying to find my white shoes to go with my dress-' Trini smoothed her skirt '-and _someone _kept rushing me, then told Mami!'

'Trini, you have a bazillion pairs of shoes.' Like any true brother Leo rolled his eyes in annoyance as he found his sneakers. 'Four of them are white so why can't you wear one of them?'

'Because they don't go with this dress. Tessi help me out here!'

'Leo, it's a girl thing,' Tessi informed her brother with such calm finality that Leo huffed out a breath, moved over to stand with his brother.

'Max, you and me better stick together bro.'

'You go it.'

Esposito looked at Meredeth, who simply laughed and shook her head. He'd missed this so much the last week, sadly when he'd needed these reminders the most. He thought of Noah Newman; what would it do to his future now that he knew his father the cop had been taken out by the ultimate crazy. Daphne was no kind of parent, at least on the surface; all he could do was pray that Noah had someone in his life that was going to look out for him.

When she descended the stairs, he pulled her in for a juicy kiss that had four young voices going 'ew' with Max tactfully adding on 'so yucky!' for good measure. He turned to their children, saw their faces screwed up in disgust. 'Better unclench before we get to Caslt'es house, or he'll think you don't like the food.'

'No!' Trini howled. 'No, RJ is helping him and RJ is the best chef ever!'

'So is Mami!' Max added hastily, giving Meredeth a hug and tugging her and Leo towards the door by their hands. 'Let's go!'

* * *

When they arrived at the loft, they were greeted by Alexis holding Petra close. Both mother and daughter had on comfy looking green clothes with Petra wearing a painfully adorable matching headband decorated with little crystal rhinestones.

'Petra! Petra, hi Petra!' Leo sprang forward, rubbing the baby's leg in lieu of a hug. 'How are you today? Are you visiting Omi and Mister Castle with your mami and daddy?'

'Blblb!' Petra burbled cheerfully, making everyone smile. 'Blb!'

'Yeah we just finished a little snack and now it's playtime with Dell and Mallory, and Auntie Jojo and Uncle RJ,' Alexis grinned, making the other children clap their hands. 'Soon Zane Brennan is gonna be here, Shane went to pick up his family in our new car, didn't he?'

'Ooo, play time!'

Esposito grinned as the kids followed Alexis to the living room like a little gaggle of geese while he and Meredeth headed for the kitchen to find Beckett, Ryan, Honey-Milk and Castle all mixing and chopping various breakfast things. 'Need another chef in there?' Meredeth asked brightly, and Beckett grinned, passed her a glass of orange juice.

'We are having mimosas when breakfast is served.'

'Looks great.' Esposito looked around. 'What can I do to help?'

'Set out plates and stay away from the food, bro,' Ryan replied with a cheeky grin, which earned a swat from Meredeth.

'He's gotten better. In twelve years of togetherness he's learned how to make grilled cheese, chilli, and chicken parmigiana that tastes like apple pie.'

'You- how do you even remember that?'

'Ooo, bad question Javi,' Honey-Milk giggled as she baby-sat three kinds of bacon - vegetarian, turkey and the real deal. 'Didn't you learn in Boyfriend or Hubby one-oh-one that a woman always remembers when the boyfriend or hubby did something ridiculous?'

'Plus it was pretty damn funny,' Meredeth added, then looked over to where the door was opening. She lifted her spatula in greeting. 'Detective and Doctor and Baby Brennan glad you could join us!'

'Hey guys.' Adam, looking far more refreshed and human than he had in the last three days, wheeled in Zane's stroller while Lindsay brought over a box from Love on a Bun. 'Lindsay insisted on bringing something to contribute.'

'It's just good manners,' she insisted, then turned to unbuckle her baby boy from the stroller; instantly he was swarmed by youngster waiting impatiently to see their other new little buddy.

Lindsay grinned as she looked around the kitchen. 'How can I help?'

'Come hang with me,' Honey-Milk offered. 'You can tell me if the meat-eater bacon is just right, Goldilocks.'

Beckett watched Lindsay take the spatula, the way Ryan and Esposito were slicing fruit to top the waffles that Meredeth was cooking up from RJ's mix. Despite her initial misgivings that everyone would be too tired to have a get-together like this,upon seeing their faces she knew it was worth it. They needed this, the affirmation that life not only went on after the dead were buried, but that it was indeed worth the fight to find the happy. Beckett thought of Emily and Sascha and Tommy, how even in the darkest hour of their lives they had been able to be happy at the news that Sascha was pregnant. If ever there was a reason to celebrate, that kind of strength was surely it.

'Come back, come back.'

'Huh?'

Castle grinned at his wife, kissed her cheek. 'You were off doing that thing you do, sorting out the meaning we all should take away from this.'

'You can tell when I do that?'

'Oh, Katie-Lou.' He flicked the tip of his finger gently down her cheek. 'I know every square inch of that face, we've been together long enough for me to know exactly what it is making your eyes glaze over like that. And trust me you don't wanna miss this.'

Beckett turned, saw the various serving platters of steaming fragrant food that had begun to appear on the island, once again pressed into service as a serving table. Waffles, bacon, eggs, even sliced ham and fresh fruit, and the toppings for mashed-potato home-fries were there too. 'Man this looks amazing.'

'It will taste even better with this.' Castle turned away, pulled out three bottles of champagne, orange juice and ginger-ale. 'Mimosas hard and soft for everyone.'

'Richard.' Beckett moved to him, gave him a sweet kiss. 'I love you.'

'I love you right back Katherine. Yo, junior crowd!; Castle lifted his voice to call to everyone in the living room. 'Food's on!'

There was the scramble of little feet towards the kitchen, and soon the whole space was engulfed in the sounds of home: bright, happy chatter, the clinking of plates and cutlery, the pop of the champagne bottles, the fascinated 'ooo' of the children when they saw they got fancy orange juice with breakfast too. Beckett grinned, and for a moment didn't think about murder or death or the job awaiting her the next morning.

For now, her biggest worry in the world was whether or not she would get a waffle with strawberries, chocolate and whipped cream.


End file.
